Jardim do Sol: August 28th ,2008

everything is still going really good. i am learning so much being exposed to the actual mission work and being surrounded by these Brazilians everyday! the language is becoming more and more familiar each day and i do my best to really try to pay attention to everything going on so i can pick up on everything. so i had the opportunity to baptize a 14 year old girl this last week! it was an awesome experience, especially being so early in my mission. a was happy when she decided that she wanted me to do it for her. i really love my area here. i think i lucked out being able to be here for my first area. the kids in the ward are awesome. the familys are really good to us also. we had conference also this past sunday. from what i could tell.... it was a good one. president Arroujo and his wife spoke and also a member of the seventy came and spoke. i was surprised from what i understood. mostly just words here and there but i could tell what was going on. i was so surprised when u said that president smart talked about me in his talk..wow. ive noticed that i think to much in english... portuguese is not structured the same so i really dont make sense to these people. its all good though. im continuing to have funny experiences out here because of the lack of me not knowing this crazy language. last week i attempted to make a street contact and i asked the couple `voces morreu juntos`? which means ´do you two die together`? i meant to say morem juntos... ha ha very close but no cigar... i ve just decided to make the best of these days that i dont know the lingue. were working with a few investigators that seem really interested and they like the book of mormon and they want to come to church. its nice having a big beautiful church house that every one sees and thinks that it is nice. there are so many apostate little church houses on every street corner! a lot of times that we walk by them at night they will be having a service and its just a lot of screaming and weird stuff like that. i dont know how people could think that that kinda stuff is the truth... we witnessed a big gang fit at the bus station the other day that was pretty intense! the cops came and broke it up with there billy clubs. we saw it as we were driving by but the bus driver just stopped the bus cause he wanted to watch, so we all got to witness the show. crazy. ty is liking the new school so far, im really glad that he is. its awesome that jud is doing so good and is almost a year already. keep it up man, and you will be much happier. arien is finally able to start what she has been working so hard to do. have fun and enjoy. im proud of ya. dad i cant believe that we actually had a watermelon this year thats awesome. mom how is the ice in the freezer? no, your probably on to the raw potato stage now that it is summer. just kidding. ill tell you what though, you would love our freezer in our apartment... there is a crack in the fridge so air gets in and creates a lot of frost. im enjoying all of the experiences that i am having so far on the mish. i see now why so many return elders talk about there missions so much. i love u guys! keep workin hard! Tcheu,
Elder COATS