I'm on a gurney!

Família!!!

What a great week..... The favorite part was definitely Christmas day talking to you guys!  Wow, that was the best session out of the 3.   Everybody was together... minus Chris.. but still.. absolutely awesome!

So the best day of the week after Christmas was definitely today... the pictures should explain:)  Me and Elder maia went to the hospital at about 1 in the afternoon but this time I went with the determination to get it out.  I was not going to walk out of that hospital with an ingrown toenail. And the doctor took it out!!!  He was awesome and so was the nurse.  The first picture is just of me................"I´m on a gerny!"  The last one is of after he numbed it (which hurt so bad) and used a shovel thingy to whip the ingrown part out. It is massive!!!! I was so surprised that that was in my toe.   Pretty crazy stuff.  Hope that Jefferson can handle it.  :)  

That sucks about the Christmas day break down of the car... our car sempre seems to break down on really important days like when the day that Amanda got home from the mission.   And nobody ever told me that Elder Garland got home..... when did that happen? recently?

So the Christmas package got here today... at least I think it is the Christmas package, it has a stocking on the top.  I still haven´t dove into it but I´m positive it is good!!!  And don´t know what happened with the birthday package but it is whatever.  It gets here when it gets here.  But thank you sooooooooooooooo much for all of the stuff that you send!!

This week we have the meeting with all of the zone leaders... well tomorrow it is.  Then we will be working in our area and doing a split with one of the other zone leaders.

I´ll be back later but that is all for now. Love you guys!! 

Best part . . . just being with all of the missionaries

The view from my front door.
That is where the US played Portugal

A Família

So since we have the mission office I can really do it at any time.... But I´m thinking at about 4pm or 5pm here.... so like noon or 1pm where you guys live in that freezing waste land. Wow I´m super stoked.. especially now knowing that all of you are together!  I´m just so happy right now to be able to talk to you guys all...I was thinking a little bit about what we would talk about…. Presidente Castro said that we should plan our calls and aproveitar os 40 minutos que temos. Thats right it is still only 40 mins but I´m fine with that.   It is plenty of time to talk it up. But I do want to ask you guys to share this one thing with me... For the year 2014, What is your most favorite experience?  Does that make sense... Think of the one thing that happened during the year that left you most happy. A experiência mais agradável.  I want everyone to pick one thing and be ready to share with me... and with everyone. Since I haven´t really been a direct part of your lifes this year.. I want to know what is going on:)  Got it.. don´t forget. Also, think of questions you have for me NOW so that you don´t have to think them up on the spot. I think that just about covers it for the Christmas call. :)  excited out of my mind! 

So on to the week.  This week was one very unique week of the mission. We left on Sunday night for Porto Velho.... we took an hour plane ride and we went to sleep at the Zls house.  It was Elder Robinson and Elder Batemon.... funny right.  Elder Robinson is one of my favorite missionaries on the whole mission. Before I got to my first área, he was there being trained. All of the members loved him to death!  I haven´t been able to talk to him a ton because I´ve never been in his zone. But I´ve always loved him.. anyways... the conference was with only 2 zones.. the 2 from Rondônia.  The training went a lot better I felt.  I had already done it once and knew what I was doing.  It still wasn´t perfect though.

That night (monday) was the birthday of one of Elder Robinsons recent converts so we went over to the bishops house and we made tacos and salsa!  The brasilians loved it.. especially the salsa... I was pretty good if i say so myself... When we went back to Elder Robinson´s house me and him had an amazing talk.. we talked about our first area.

That night we caught our flight with President and Sister Castro at 2am.  We landed in Rio Branco, Acre at 3:30am.  There was a one hour difference; in our heads it was 4:30.  Boa Sorte.  We went to the Zones leaders house and I had the privilege of sleeping on the floor, it was great.

The next day (Tuesday) me and elder Maia did a division with the Zone leaders there. Their area is out on the outskirts of the town. Lots of forest and dirt roads and wood houses.. pretty cool... That night (see picture) we had Tereré.  Man that stuff is good. And as you can see Elder Pothier was at the house as well!! He was my comp last year at Christmas time.

The next day (wed) was the conference. It was the best out of the 3. I felt like me and Elder maia finally nailed the training!  We did good. And the talent show was legit!  The missionaries sang Feliz Navidad and got Pres and Sister Castro to dance! And it is on film. So funny.

That night we flew back home at 3:45am.  Caught a flight to porto velho and then to manaus. We landed at 8am. Talk about a sleep less night. We had to go right to the mission office because the arriving Americans had to do visa stuff. Finally at 2pm we were able to go home and sleep; we were DEAD!!! We were out till 8pm and then didn´t have any problems getting to sleep at 10;30.  So that was just a quick run by of the conferences.  Overall awesome... The best part was just being with all of the missionaries... sleeping in their houses and just conversing with them. Elder Maia is telling me the importance of gaining their trust. I think I´m doing pretty ok with that.

So on Saturday we were able to work in our area! It was incredible. Sometimes it is hard to leave your house after lunch to work in the hot sun. But on Saturday we were both so excited to get out on the streets and work!  The bishop gave us a list of members to visit... more to just see if they still lived there... none of them did so we were able to make some good contacts with the people (the other 3 elders in the office with me see the size of the email that I send to you guys and just can´t believe that I write that much.  Elder Wilson just asked me what I´m going to tell you guys on natal because I’m writing you soo much right now).  Next week we will start doing division s with the ZLs.  It should be pretty fun.  To go work in other areas.

That is about it for the week.. Eu espero que saibam que eu amo vocês demais! Estou muito animado para falar com vocês na Quinta-feira.  Vai ser bom demais! 4pm to 5pm Manaus time... don´t forget. (not like you could). That will still give you time to go to Hermiston if you desire....  Até quinta!!!!!

Elder Ostler!

FELIZ NATAL!

Played Nertz this moring with some sisters…
They just got here by bus so they stopped by the escritoire
and happened to have a couple decks of cards. 

Qual é melhor, arroz ou feijão?

Família!

Wow, What a week it has been.  Full of everything... Stress, happiness, embarrassment, awkwardness....But overall just awesome!  I don´t even knw where to start... well maybe I should start with why I´m writing on Saturday and not Monday.  Yesterday we had the cnferência de Natal em Manaus com todas as zonas de Manaus, Boa Vista, Tefé e Itaquatiara.  There were a ton of missionaries here... Kinda crazy. Tomorrow night we are going to Porto Velho to have the conferência de natal with the missionaries from there and then on Monday night we will fly to Rio Branco to have our last conferênce... we will get back on Thursday early morning.  So that is why I´m emailing you now... make sense.... I hope so:)  Oh and before I forget... about the Christmas call.... I can really do it anytime on Christmas because I'm in the escritrio now... we have computers.. we just got to get some webcams. So that can be at any time.... we will set up an exact time next monday (10 days).  I´m thinking like afternoonish here so like 10 or 11 there... and since I´m your only missionary yu don´t have to worry about anybody else..

So a little bit about what I´m doing right now. I´m in the area of alvorada which is the same place that has the mission office.  We share the area with a dupla f sisters... and unlike the APs in the past we will be working a lot more in our area instead of traveling.  We will also be doing divisions with the Zone Leaders on a weekly basis.  But we won´t be able to work in our area everyday. We have to do relatorios and such.......... Honestly , I still don´t know what I´m doing. I´m just kinda following Elder Maia around and doing what he tells me to do.

This week was like the most unique week of my whole mission because we gt to participate in the arriving and saindo missinários.  Monday night is when the Missionários that are leaving Left.  It was Elder Volk (my old comp) and Elder Nielsen's groups.  I´m gnna miss those guys.  They went and dined at the house of president and then we went there in a bus and picked them up and took them to the airprt. All of their flights left at like midnight or later. We got there at about 11pm.  We got everybody thru the check in and on through security, there were about 12 of them leaving.  But one of the sisters was going to panama and had to wait till 1am to check in .. so in the ffice the elders have a tradition.  The new elder (in this case me) has to buy everybdy subway. There is a subway right next to the airport so at 12am we went.  It was pretty good.  And when I say pretty I mean really!  Then we took the sister back to check in só que she had way to much wait... She was allowed 23 Kilos and have 60 Kilos!!!!!!!!!!!! So we sat there for another hour as she rifled through her stuff and got rid of it. Mainly just books and clothes.  We got home at 2am and went right to sleep.   So that was pretty fun... 

But what was even funner (yes Saydi, It´s a word) was on Tuesday when the new missionaries arrived. We went to get them from the airprt at about 11am with the secratarios and Pres and Sister Castro.  There were 6 of them.... (one thing that is happening here is that there are massive groups of missionaries going home and small ones arriving, a lot of areas have already closed and will continue to close).  2 Elders from Honduras and 4 Sisters, one from Brasil, one from Columbia and 2 AMERICANS!  I couldn´t believe it. They are the first Americans to arrive since January (discluding visa waiters).  They were in the São Paulo MTC.  We picked them up in the bus (it is a rented bus with a driver) and we went to the temple to snap some picks......  Then we were off to the Presidents house fr Lunch.

Lunch was pretty good.  Afterwards Elder Wilson one of the secretaries gave a short training and so did Sister Castro. I had to translate a bunch of it for the two english sisters... What I can´t believe is that I once looked as deer in the headlights as them!  They didn´t understand much but now that I think f it I understood almost nothing when I got here.  They are both from California and are my age, graduated in 2013.  Then president Castro interviewed them all.  Then we were off to the chapel to meet their trainers. By this time it was like 8pm.  Elder Stenquist is training ne of the Elders and the two Americans got put with brasilians.  It was a pretty fun day...

And then we had the conferencia de natal yesterday.  It was kinda put together at the last second. All the missionaries from the cidades in the state from amaznoas and Roraima flew to manaus the day antes.  There were a ton of missinaries there.  We started a little late (like I said it was kind of thrown tgether at the last second, the planning part).

I conducted the meeting.  Me and Elder Maia gave a training.  I was pretty nervous. It was well over half the mission... and my first training...... In the Zone trainings I was always bem tranquilo because it was a smaller number of people and just more comfortable.... This time I was a little nervous.  Elder Maia is a pro at giving trainings. He just is a natural public speaker.  We talked about planning and companionship and hw they are connected.  I felt like I didn´t do all that well.  I should have prepared better for it.  But when I talked to Elder Klumker about it afterwards he said I did great.  I still feel like I could have been butter.

One thing that I need to do better is have more cnfidence in the Lord that he will help me. More faith and mre humility.  That is really what I´m striving for.. to have Heavens help... because I´ll be honest.. there is no way that I can d this alne.. way to much to do.

After the trainings we had lunch then a talent show by zone and district.  It was pretty funny. I was in charge of the mics and pianos...  It all went smoothly......Then we had the testimonies of the missionaries leaving and arriving.  The leaving ones were all the same "It goes by so fast, I never thought I would be at this point but now I´m here......"

The arrivals missionaries were SO GOOD!! Elder Klumker also bore his testimony cause he just got here 4 weeks ago and he is a baller.  He said he was just so happy to finally be serving in brazil!

I´ve never really thought about that but I´m so blessed to serve my whole mission in brasil.  Thank you so much Mom... w/o you that would nt have been possible.  Thank you so much for flying to san fran I don´t even know how many times, 5?.  I thought that the 2 arriving Americans woulds have trouble but there testimonies were my favorites, along with Elder Klumkers.... They couldn´t say much, just the simple stuff.  "I know the church is true.  I know the Book of Mormon can help us. I'm reading it.  Portuguese is hard but with God, will learn."  But when they said it it was just so strong and I knew that they really meant it.  I was actually surprised at how much they were able to say.

The gift of tongues is a real thing and I don´t doubt that. I still remember the day when I landed.  I said a prayer. God heard my pray that day.  He has blessed me with it so much.

After the conference we took a picture with everyone... I´ll see if I can send it to yaall.  I was with Elder Klumker and Elder mount.. man I lve those two.  Elder Klumker talked to us abut all rooming together at BYU.

So that was the conferece. It got over at 9pm.. we were shooting for 4pm... we kinda missed and we still had to cut some stuff out... the two this week should do better because we already ran through it once....

So here is bottom line of the week. I have no idea what I´m doing...But Elder Maia said that that is normal. He said that he didn´t start catching on really till his secnd transfer...But the week was super fun and excited from the leavers to the arrivers to the conference.

Oh yeah one other thing, at the conference I felt such a massive love for all of the missionaries. It was amazing. From sitting up on the stand to talking with all of them. All of the GAs that have passed here have always said that they love us so much and that God gives them that love. Well it is true.  I know most of the missionaries and abut 1/3 I know on a personal level but I still just loved them all. 

I hope the week goes well for you guys and that you enjoy that cold weather kakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakkakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakaakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakkakakakakkakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakakkakakakakakak!

Falou!

Elder Ostler  

The birthday was great!

FAMÌLIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the craziest weeks of the mission by far..... but I´ll get to that later.. (the "o" on this keyboard doesn´t wrk very well so it might be falting a couple of O´s)

Wow it sounds like things are going great for you guys.  That is sweet to here about amanda and chris and how they will start t rake in the cash....  btw... where is chris wrking at?  And Jefferson that is awesome that you are playing for the RHS varsity team!!! Just awesome!!!  Christmas here doesn’t feel like Christmas just because it is so stinking ht.. and the peple get trees.. they are just about a meter high and are plastic...

So on Tuesday I did a division with elder mount from my group in the MTC.  It was great to talk a little and catch up on things.  My toe is doing just fine... kinda.  You should have gtten my other email that I sent to vangorkum....abut me going to the hspital.  We went on Friday night because I couldn´t stand it anymore. Just this time we went to one f the best hospitals in manaus. We got there and we waited for like 20 mins then I gt called back to the surgeon.   The funniest thing happened... I said.."I have an ingrwn toenail that I need taken out." 

This was his next question, "well how do you know it is ingrown?" 

I just wanted to dye of laughter right in his face.... "HMMM i don´t know, maybe it just feels like a bunch of fire ants have a attacked it and then paul Bunion smashed it with an ax... yeah that is hw it feels....  and when I accidentally hit it it feels like jack sparrow stabbed it with his sword and then poured rum all over it.... yeah... so that is how I know that it is ingrown..."

He got online and shwed me the prcedure that shuld be done just like vangorkum did with the phenol that stops the toenail growth on the sides... he told me he could do that but that he didn´t have phenol...... how des one of the biggest hospitals in manaus not have phenol? I asked him if he culd just take it out real quick but he said that that wouldn´t solve anything because it would just grow back.. so this is what he did... he gave me a prescription for phenol and told me to go to a pharmacia and get it.. but not just any pharmacy would have it.. it had to be a good one....  then I was to come back the next morning.. (he was still gong to be there) and he would do the precedure.  Great.

So we left the hospital and went on our search fr phenol.. but this time it as 10pm. We go to a pharmacia that would have phenol but the pharmacist said that it is super rare and that a pharmaci wouldn´t have it.  We needed to go to a stre that sold hspital supplies. He gave us the general location of one.... he really didn´t know. So we got on the bus and decided that we wouldn´t come back the next day because we had no idea where to find the drug and our day was FULL!  But then when we were at lunch on Saturday the irmã who is a RC told me to take my shoe off so she could see it.  She liked in disbelief.  Then she grabbed here stuff and started digging.  The ladies that d manicures here also take out ingrown toenails.  And when I say that she started digging... I mean she starring DIGGING!!  She drained out all of the puss and blood... there wasn´t that much.. and she got some massive chunks out and boy did it hurt....  but it is feeling 50 times better now so nothing to worry about..  she said she would get the rest of it out on Monday (to day) because the swelling would g down...but I told her that we had transfers on Sunday and that I pssibly would get transferred...…

December 6, 2014.... 20 years

The birthday was great!! There is a girl in our ward that was born on 6 dec 1994 as well!  She is the step daughter of our ward mission leader. She made us a cake and rented a trampoline fr the night.  So that night we went ver and had cake and jumped on the tramp;... and boy was that fun... it was tiny though.. 3 meters in diameter and on really uneven ground.. but still fun.  Her friends went first (just like 3 YW from the ward) and me and elder brown were telling them t do flips... but obviously couldn´t.  Then elder brown went up there and they were like "do a flip do a flip" just like we were doing them.. just that they didn´t expect him to do it.... it bounced 3 times and pulled out a backflip....they were all shocked!!! It was funny.  Then I got in and did a frontflip 180.  It was a great birthday...:)  Right after that we ran t the church for a wedding of a less active member and her nonmember boyfriend.  We have already taught him once and he said that he wants to be baptized.  He is just studying and working to much for us to teach them...

We have two other baller investigators..... A* & F*.   We found A* about 3 weeks ago and said that she wanted to go to church. She was´t able to go last week. She is like 40 and divorced and has a daughter. We taught the first and then invited to church and she went and loved it!!! S col.  We also met F*...  she is kinda crazy but went to church.  And has a baptism date for the next Tuesday. It will be great... and she wrote me a letter asking me to marry her..... no thank you.

So now fr the craziest part.  On Saturday afternoon Presidente Castro called me and told me that he had been praying and fasting and told me that the Lord had called me to be the next Assistant to the President................ I just didn´t know what to say to him.  He asked if I accepting and said yes.  He told me I should pray and fast that the Lord confirms to me as the Lord confirmed to him that it is me that should be the next AP.  I will need a lot of faith that God will help me... I got here to the office yesterday... it is so weird.  Our house is tiny.. there are four of us living there.  Me and elder Maia, (my comp, see pic) and the 2 secretaries, elder wilson and elder suoza silva live there.    It should be fun with a lt of work....  We have our own area and elder maia said that we will be able to work in it and do lts of divisions with ZLs

Well that was the crazy week.... h´pe everything ges well for you guys!!! Love yu Guys!

Elder Ostler

The bugs of Manaus

Hotter than . . . . . something very hot . . . . . like a BBQ!!!

What the???? scuba diving!!!  I was thinking about that this week and how right when I get home I want to get certified…. Just a little jealous... but not really ... this week was absolutely amazing!!!  But first thing is first..... I’m dying of heat!!!!!!!! It is definitely over 100 outside and in this lan house the AC is broken.... me and Elder Brown are literally dripping in sweat.... but I guess that is better than just freezing to death like you guys kakakakak.  And Benson I will gladly take over the business when I get home... consider it DONE! kakak  That is pretty cool that you are doing the drumline and good luck with Babal Jethro.... do the ostler name proud..  So this is the last email you will get from me as a teenager!  Já pensaram?  I´m turning 20 baby!!!  And even better... there will be a full moon on my birthday!

So this week we had a baptism!!!  wahhwhhoo!!!  I think I mentioned it last week.. it was R*...  he has been going to church now for almost 3 years but never felt like he was ready for the baptism... until two weeks ago.. we were working really close with him the past 3 weeks and we tried to mark the date for last Saturday but when we were weekly planning we felt we should change it to this Saturday (this was LAST week, like 14 days ago).  When we went to his house to remard the date he said that he wanted to be baptized and that date.. we didn´t even invite him.. he just said it!  It was great.  He knows the baptism is essential.

It was a great service.. great turn out and his non member dad was there.  He is 19 and has a girlfriend who is a member.  The bishop bought a cake and salgados and we had kikão too.. it was great!  Elder Brown did the ordinance and he said that when R* left the agua, his eyes were SHINING!  I thought that was soo cool. I don´t think I´ve baptized anybody on the mission who was more prepared than R*.  He knew Everything and had a forte testemunho da restauração.  

I´m really having a stronger love for these people, especially R* and F* and his family... they are progressing good.  K* told us that she received an answer that the church is the true church just not the Joseph Smith was a prophet... we invited her to pray about that.... well all of them..

It is HOTTER THAN HOTT this is supposed to be the wet rainy season... but it isn't.... Hotter than .... something very hot... like a BBQ.. it is hitting records also we are in manga season and the members are giving them to us like candy on Halloween... most people here have a manga tree in their quintal... we got a bowl of about 10 right now with 5 more in the fridge... they are sooooooo gooooood!!!!

I also gave a talk on Sunday.  I was told before hand so I had time to plan. All of the talks in our ward are on the same thing... tithing, fast offerings, law of chastity and drugs.  I decided to talk on Conversão using the talk by bednar that he gave in 2012,, converter to the lord.   I did alright but not the best.. I should have practiced it a couple more times to work out all the kinks...

We had thanksgiving at Irmã C´s House, she is a less active but she made us jaraqui.. it is a fish about the same size as a rainbow trout.... it was super good!!!! She works in a kitchen so she knows how to cook....  I just sent a pic of it....we are inviting her back to church.

Thanksgiving meal….
ate the whole fish….
INCLUDING the head!

I ate three of them. Afterwards all that was left was the spine... yumnmy.  The head is super salty but good.  I felt like Grandpa Skinner eating it. I remember one time when we were over at his house when I was young and we were eating fish and he just bit off the head….I thought it was disgusting and here I am doing it!

On Tuesday me and elder brown gave a zone training to our zone on the things elder Aidukaitis taught us.  I think we did really good.  Our zone just sat there with a .... shocked look on their face....they understood and they told us last night that they did it.  It is taking them about 8 hours to do..... me and elder brown just did it for a second time so we are getting better....

Did you guys go to coconut´s?  or night diving? any sea turtle attacks? kaka  

This morning we woke up at 3 in the morning to go get my ingrown toenail taken out.....the hospital here is a first come first serve.. you have to get in line and then wait till 7 when they start attending people.  We got there at 530 and I has about 20th in line... pretty good.  When I got up to the window to talk to them they told me that all of the opening for the day were full and that I needed to come earlier if I wanted a spot....... I didn´´t get mad... there was no point in it... but now we will figure out a plan b.... maybe not the public hospital but the private one.....my toe isn't killing me.  I´m taking advil so that is helping.... only when I hit on something which is rare.  I´m not the clumsy type... but it sure was a fun adventure to be on the dead silent street at 3:30 in the morning...

I hope that everything goes well this week and that you don´t freeze to death!!kakak  I´ll hope not to melt to death.  see you in 24......

Elder Ostler

The righteous ones got left behind

Maui!!!!! wait a second!  Why haven´t I gotten my ticket yet!  Wait up for me!!!

I was actually talking with Elder Brown this week about Hawaii and how awesome it is.  Wow... I hope you guys have fun... probably one of my favorite places on earth... besides the amazon rainforest kkkakak  I can´t believe the Jefferson decided to stay back!  Tell him I sent him an email.

So yeah... two weeks.  The thing is I don´t have much time this week because we went to the hospital this morning to get my ingrown toe out só que they couldn´t do it.... they said I had to show up earlier to mark an appointment..  Brasilian healthcare makes zero sense... this is what they told me.... I went last Wednesday just to take it out really quick like last time... but this time they told me I had to come back on Monday (today) to mark an appointment,.  So I went this morning but after I waited in line from 8 to 11am they told me all the slots were filled for the day... so I guess I have to get there even earlier in order to mark an appt for the same day.....grrr.  It was frustrating but I didn´t get mad.  I just thought it was hilarious how complicated you can make a hospital...... so we lost a good chunk of our day...

The conference with Elder Aidukaitis was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On Monday like I said he taught us how to do weekly planning.  He said that when you are done with weekly planning your whole week should be filled!  Every single hour of the day should have a real plan and a back up plannnnn. We do it on Thursday so you have to have a full planner until the next Sunday... 11 days!!!  It was killer.  Elder A has a way of burning you with out being rude about it.  He speaks the truth.  He is now one of my favorite GAs.  Our planning usually takes about 3 hours.... this week... it took us 3 sessions of 3 hours each..... NINE HOURS OF PLANNING!!! But our week is full this week.  The way he explained it makes so much sense.  Amanda Jackson and Saydi... did you guys plan like that?  We used to just plan for our investigators but not actually mark when we were going to go see them.  On Tuesday with all the missionaries he talked alot about obedience.  It was so good!  He used so many examples from the scriptures to teach us it.  I will now be more obedient.

So everyone is going to be in Hawaii except me and Jefferson?.... Looks like the righteous ones got left behind;) kakakak but seriously

We had 2 amazing milagres acontecer essa semana!  It was on Thursday after our first session of planning....... we went to Ro*´s House.  He is 19 and has been investigating the church for 3 years... his girls friend is less active.  All the members know him. All the missionaries they come through here just try to baptize him. Mark a date for one week out.  We went there two week ago and marked a date for last Saturday (3 days ago).  We went there on Thursday and asked him what he thought about the baptism. (He knows it is all true and knows that baptism is essential... just scared).  He said that he had talked to his girlfriend and had decided that he wanted to be baptized this Saturday the 29th!!! Our jaws dropped! During our planning session we had planned by the spirit to remark his date for the 29... turns out the spirit was talking to him as well!!! It was amazing.

After that lesson we went over to our girl investigators, A* & K.  Their dad has been out of town for 3 weeks and isn´t supposed to be back for a couple more weeks.  The girls have 11 and 14 years, they love us and they are so cool... I think I sent a pic of them já.  So we go to their house and guess who is there........ Their Dad!!!!!   He came back early and was so excited to see us!  We just talked with him and he told us alot about his problems but how he wants to change 100 porcento now... and he means it.  And he went to church!! Irmão S (baller member) is his friend and Irmão S knows exactly what to do with him at church. Shows him around.. introduces him to everyone.. has him stand up on class..  It was the first time he went to church and it was blessed!!!

We marked his date for 6 of december....... could someone ask for a better Christmas present... NO!!!!  Please pray that he will have the desire to be baptized on this day and that he will be ready. He needs this more than anything right now in his life... the gospel.. but doesn´t everybody.  

So those were our two super miracle of the week this week.. very cool.  Seeing the Lord’s hand in the work.  

We also started an english class this week! We had like 10 people there but it will grow.  We taught greetings and numbers... it was great.  We don´t really know what we are doing but we are doing it.  We figured it would help us meet nonmembers and unite the ward somehow.   Hope it works.   We cleaned the house out good today.  We cleaned the fridge out and Elder Brown de-iced it with a machete.... we can do that because we are in the amozom.... only here though.... kkkakakak

So on Tuesday during our conference with Elder A guess who showed up!!!!!?!?!?!?! Elder Klumker!!!!!! What!!!  He served in NY for 14 months and now he is finally here!  I almost died of joy when I saw him.. he is still just as funny as ever.  The pick is of me elder klumker, elder malcolm and elder mount... REUNITED AGAIN!!!!  elder defranco and elder dominguez are already here but not at the conference. I just love that picture.

Well that is about it... I hope you guys have the funnest time ever in Hawaii... I want to get some pictures next week so be sure to take some!  Love all of you. And Saydi and Dad.... watch our for those turtles....They are deadly.kakakakak

Elder Ostler

I forgot to tell you this but when we got home from the hospital today after the failed attempt to get my ingrown toenail removed... we took things into our own hands..... Elder Brown used the dull pair of kindergarten scissors to ..... you know..... lets just say I only have 9 toes now..

Loving the mission

November 17, 2014

Hey so today is whacked up;  Elder Aduikatis is here today so we are having our zone leader conference today.  I´m doing great and loving the mission.  Elder Hammer came and stayed the night with us last night and will stay til Wednesday.  He is from outside of Manaus.  So now we got to high tail it over to the conference... might be able to email tonight might not, we´ll see....... but I love you guys still the same! And if I don´t get back to you.. Good luck this week Jefferson with tryouts!  Love you all!

Elder Ostler    

sweating my armpits off!

November 18, 2014

I´m back super quick just to print something out that I forgot yesterday..... read your email today.  Sounds like you guys are doing great and Jefferson and Wilson good luck tonight with your basketball tryouts and games.  Just pretend you are me.....Then you will rock everybody.  What you guys are going to Hawaii.  Sounds like a blast.  Jefferson.. that is a tough decision that you aren´t going.  but you will not regret that when you are the starting jumper for the RHS Varsity state winning, babe getting, basketball team. (I can´t type explanation points.) 

Our conference yesterday was baller and today we got another one. It was all about chapter 8 of PMG and it rocked.. I realized that my whole mission I´ve been planning wrong... well... everybody in the mission has.... 

I´m out of here but I love you all.. and thank you so much for the packages;;;;;;  You guys are the BEST.

Elder Ostler

On the Radio-UH-ouho

nosso distrito no templo................. Só Batiza!   

Família!

Lame email not!  Your emails are never lame... just hearing from you guys is awesome!  Just knowing how you guys are doing makes my day..  Jefferson, Benson, and Wilson, You 3 are straight up ballers!  Well literally wilson and jefferson.... benson is more of a drummer....

So happy mission eligible birthday Élder Ostler... I mean Jefferson?  Have you guys heard of any missionaries lately from the states getting called to Brasil?  It has been almost a year since any American has showed up here (besides the visa waiters) so I'm beginning to think that they just stopped calling Americans all together because of visa problems.  But it sounds like you had a great party chubbs....

So the high light of this week happened on Wednesday.  Last week we did a contact with a "pastor."  He wasn´t really a pastor he just told us about some visions that he had had when he has seen angles and what not.  He said he had a gospel radio station that he spoke on every night at 6 that covered a zona norte de manaus.  He invited us to give the word on it this week.  So on Wednesday we went to his "studio" which was just a house with some microphones in the back room.

He interviewed us a little bit on the radio, asked us about us where we are from if we like manaus?  How long we have been here?  Then he started asking about the church.  Who is the leader.  How it was founded.  If we had an links with the community and so on... it was really sweet!  WE WERE TALKING ON THE RADIO.   Then he gave us 10 mins to preach and guess what we preached? The restoration!  That is right!  It was really cool to be able to do that and make that experience.  I hope it at least touched one person that was listening.  We gave our phone number at the end if anyone wanted to come in contact with us. It was really sweet.  "On the radio -UH-ouho! On the radio-UH-ouho! On the radio-UH-ouho!"

Dad I really like what you said about how I can´t convert anybody but that it has to be the holy ghost!  I can create an environment for the HG to testify to them and for them to gain a testimony but it is between them and GOD as far as conversion comes.  We are still working with J* and her daughter and they came to church yesterday!! It was great!! they are really gaining testimonies of the truthfulness of the church! And the girls are doing well too.  I think I already mentioned them. A* & K* and their dad F*.  The two girls are praying to know if the LdM is true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet. I think they are slowly gaining a testimony.  F* is a little harder.  He has problems. . . . . 

Every time that I don´t want to work or slack off I think of you guys and how disappointed you would be if you know I wasn´t working hard. Thanks for being such an awesome family.  I love you all I hope you have a great week!

Love 

Elder Ostler

Chat with Elder Ostler: On Sunday the member we were eating lunch with didn´t want us to leave because it was pouring but we said we really had to go so she made us ponchos!!!

Mom: That's a sweet poncho. And no, we know of no one in the states being called to brazil. The missionary mom email group I'm on for your mission hasn't had any new moms for I'd say 8 months. Looks like you were one of the last Americans called to brazil.

A crazy roller coaster

Família!!!!

Wow that dance looked awesome and I’m 100% sure that it was awesome.  Loved it all... so cool.  Was there any uproar from the school this year or the school kids?  Mowing is done Finally which is pretty cool:)  stress levels all down..... well at least for the next 14 days kaakakakaka.  I got the box and thank you sooooo much!! I got it on Halloween day (I got my first box on the mission last year on Halloween day too:)  and I loved it.  No I don´t need shoes or socks I’m good on everything.  While Elder Brown was eating some friutsnacks he looked at me and said "send your mom a hug from me."  It was hilarious.... american sweets..... yum.   And the only time it ever feels cold is when it rains..... other than that.... never. 

The week...... was a roller coaster. We started off so well then just plummeted.  We did a division with 2 members of the ward on Tuesday.  It was great.  Right now we are teaching mainly 3 families.  F* and his 2 daughters, J* and her husband, they need to get married to be baptized.  And Al* & E* who are a young couple who need to get married.  The division was great and we made great progress with all of the families.... the thing is none have been to church yet except the daughters of F*.  So Elder Brown had the great idea to give church tours!!! He said he did it all the time in the states and it worked.  So our first one was with Al* & E*.  Irmaõ S (our baller member) and his wife were there.  We showed them the sacramental, talked about the priesthood, the bishop,  and ended up in the baptismal font room......  we talked about the necessity of baptism and then we started in on a marriage talk and how they needed to be married in order to be baptized.  They had argued the day before but S explained how that's normal in marriage.  (He is a BALLER member!)

The spirit became SO strong, a calmness filled the air.  We asked them what they were feeling.  Al* explained just that.  He said it was a peace that everything would be alright in the future, esperança.  We told him that was the HG testifying to him that this was Gods only true church on the earth.  It was an amazing lesson.  The spirit was thick in that room.  We "marked" their marriage for the first week in December as a goal (marriage papers take about 3 weeks to do here) they accepted!  Walking home that night me and Elder Brown were in awe at the spirit that was there.

We tried to take F* on a tour but he left town...:(he will get baptized.. I think it might take awhile though... still hasen´t gone to church.  Then we took J* and her daughter on a church tour.  The church tour was great.  The spirit was strong but not as strong as the other night with Al* & E* but he was still there.  Her husband will probably stay and get married instead of ditching.   The bummer of the church tours is that none of them went to CHURCH ON SUNDAY!!!  F* was out of town, J* was helping her mom and Al* & E*..........

So we passed by their house on Saturday night to confirm their visit in the church the next day.  He said that he would not be about to go..... we could tell he was hiding something.  Then he just said it... "ok I will be honest with you guys... I found another church.  I went to this other church yesterday and just felt so good.  I felt God there.  I even cried.  So I´m not going to be going to your church anymore.  I have another one."  

My heart sank....

I was so sad.  He had had a spiritual confirmation of the truthfulness of the church.  He also said that he believed that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God.  And then he went to another church and felt "good" and that is good enough for him to deny the witness that he received. I was so sad for him, he didn´t know what he just turned down.  People turn us down all the time but after an experience like that with the spirit.... that is hard to deny. 

I don´t know what is happening here in this area.  We get people so close to baptism or even going to church and then they just stop progressing.  I feel like God is trying to teach me something and I still haven´t learned it.  I´m also trying to be much more humble.  Pride is one of my big faults.

So that was the week.. a crazy roller coaster.  We are working hard.  Sure we mess up sometimes that is natural as humans as long as we get back up afterwards. We had a hard time getting up at 630 this week... it sucks when you don´t wake up at 630.. I just feel guilty and you waste so much time.  

But I´m doing fine.  I trust in God that all of my trials are for my good:) have a great week! Love you all

Elder Ostler

Chat with Elder Ostler:  You there?

Mom: As always!!! Did you ever get the package? Any birthday box requests?

Elder Ostler: Yeah I got the box! See big email.  And for the birthday box.....pictures of you guys.......the spring break video jefferson made.

I got Jefferson's letter too.  I´m so happy he is enjoying basketball and even more happy that he is taking AP lit with porter.... that was one of my regrets... he is the best teacher at RHS... hands down.   and AP physics as well....

k well I´m out of here.  You guys don´t know how much I love you... sooo much!! Seeing all of those pictures made me so happy to see you guys happy!  Eternal Families... there is nothing else like it:)

A talk on the tip of your tongue

Família!!!! what is happening!

Wilson....... you need to remember one thing.................. I am the chick magnet,,,, and self-proclaimed, might I add.  But have fun anyways at your first dance with your loincloth.  And I´m so happy that you guys are doing the Hochbol dance still.  Do the people even know what that means? The dance sounds pretty awesome I´m not going to lie and yes I would love pictures....... of everything...... included Jefferson and his date who I don’t even know who it is? 

So transfers are today and me and Elder Brown are staying!!!!! What?!?!  My second comp that I will stay 2 transfers with!  We were so happy to stay together.  He is just to funny.   But Elder Stenquist moved out of our house and he is now in the same ward as he was but he moved houses to live in his area.  So that is a bummer.  Me and Elder Brown will miss him.   

This week was great!!!!  One thing that me and Elder Brown did really good at this week was teach with power and authority.  Everytime we taught the restauração I could feel the spirit testifying to the person of the first vision.  It was awesome!! We were super bold in saying that this is the only true church.  I felt like I haven´t taught better in my whole mission.  I´m really learning how to hear the spirit during a lesson then follow it.  I´ve always struggled with that but I´m getting better.  The worst part is when you teach well and the spirit is there testifying to the person and then they deny it...... ahhhhh!  Well they don´t deny that they felt the spirit they just don´t... recognize it and connect it to the spirit testifying to them..... that is one thing that we need to explain better to them.  But still they don´t do anything.  On Sunday we had 2x+5=5 investigators at church.... it was a bummer but we aren´t getting ourselves too down about it because we know that we are doing our part.

This week was the week of rain. It rained everyday this week... like hard.  The roads turned into rivers and the rivers turned into oceans.....    We got soaked but it was fun.. but because of the rain there weren´t people out on the street to do contacts with so that also affected our work.

So I went to get my toenail taken out this week. I went to a pedicure place to get it taked out.. and just that.  The next thing I know I was getting a full pedicure!!!  Foot wash, cuticles cut and toenails cut and she took out the ingrown part.. well almost.. she missed a little part that is still festering..... but I´m all good for now. The worst part is when she put clear nail polish on.... are you kidding me!   Manhood taken away.

Because of all the rain the mosquitoes are going crazy!! And when I say going crazy I mean coming into our room and eating us.  Every night!!! So what you have to do is get all the way under your covers but then you dye of heat and they still bite you. When you wake up in the morning there are little blood patched on the covers from when you rolled over on top of them during the night and killed them. So one night this week it was like 11:30 and we were trying to sleep but we couldn´t cus we were getting eaten alive.  So Elder Brown got up and said "hey, I´m gonna turn on the light and kill all of these mosquitoes." And that is what we did for the next hour and a half.  And killed them all.............with our hands.  It was awesome!  Our hands were so bloody afterwards.  But we slept good:)

Dead mosquito hands at midnight

I´ve been here for over 2 months and there has not been one ward council meeting........  one night we went over to a members house.  He used to be a bishop. We sat down and we started talking about the ward and he was saying the same stuff that we always say about our leadership.  But I was so impressed in the way he was doing it.  He never once said that our leadership was bad or anything.  He just said how a ward should be run. It was very interesting to talk to him.  He is a baller... probably my favorite member in the ward.

At lunch this week we got told a lot of stuff by the Irmãs of our ward.  Elder Brown says we are in the "Women Confidence Club."  One irmã was telling us all about her marriage.  Another irmã told us about how she had a vision.  It was a confusing dream and she was asking us if we could help her "interpret" it.  So the Irmãs here really like us... and trust in us which is good.  Now we just need to get that trust from the bishop.

So I´m playing the piano in church now..... So I walk up to the pulpit on Sunday to play prelude and the bishop says to me "Elder, do you have a talk on the tip of your tongue?"  I told him if he needed me I would give a talk.  While I was playing the piano prelude the secretary come up and said I would be the first speaker.  So while I was playing the first and sacrament hymn I was planning my talk.  I was going to speak on the atonement and grace and the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I had it in my head pretty good with scriptures and everything. 

So after the sacrament I ran to get my Livro de Mórmon in the peus and then I was preparing to hear my name called to give the talk.... but then they called on an irmã..... so I didn´t end up giving a talk.. she just got there late...... I was relieved.....    Then last night we got invited to an FHE at the family that lives behind us.  They aren´t members, they´ve been investigating the church for a while.. their niece and daughter are members and firm now.

We walking in and they told me I would be giving the lesson on gratitude and handed me a true to the faith.  I did pretty good.  The best part was the game at the end. We taught them how to play "I never" and it was hilarious!!!!! One of the funniest times I´ve ever played it.  I don´t know why it was just awesome!!  Laughter the whole time with a bunch of brasilians.   Then I taught them "I´m going on a trip and bringing a ....."  you know when you have to keep adding on what you bring... and guess who won.... yours truly!  Vou pra a praia e vou levar um livro, um urso, o copo, a seleção brasileira, o time de flamango, uma toalha, o rede, um baré, uma guarda sol, a família de elder stenquist, davi, A gravata, sapatos, oculos do sol, uma prancha, uma violão, a camisa, um penguin, a bandeira dos estados unidos, a bandeira do amazonas, Imrão sales, relógio, a pula pula, um barco cheio de tijolos, e uma flecha.........  I still got it!!!!!!!!!!!!  It was super fun.

I hope everything goes well for you guys this week with mowing and hochbol, marching band, the dance this Tuesday, loincloths, jury duty..... yeah I think that is it:)  have fun"!

Elder Ostler