29-10-12

Dear Family,

My goodness! I only have 2 weeks left in this transfer! How crazy is that?? Im sorry last weeks letter got eated by the computer, Ive resent it.

I got the newest latest greatest package from Cheneys! Thank you guys so much!!!! I absolutely LOVE their cookies! And the bag of candy is super awesome! Its a bit weird, P-Day is Monday, and we get mail on Tuesdays, so its right after we send our letter for the week. :(

Mom and Dad, do you know how I can send pictures to Mission Ties? Get a print and mail that to them?

Okay, a few things in the letter from Alisha. Did they really recall the peanut butter? And mine is probably not safe to eat? :( I guess its a good thing I havent opened it yet. Ive thought about eating it more than once, guess its a good thing I havent yet. Next thing: Alisha, I didnt get your picture on Mission Ties. Was it on there or in a different letter on its way? And finally, Im so sorry to hear that Haley Stonehocker passed away, but Im glad she is with our Father and wont hurt anymore. Could you give her family my best wishes for me?

On a more happy note, I think Ive figured out a great way to deal with mosquito bites! When you feel that youve just been bitten, massage the area like you just went in for shots. My thinking is that Ive heard mosquitos have a pain-killer type stuff when they bite, but humans are a little bit allergic to it. Makes sense, my whole arm used to swell up sometimes at camp. Anyway, I thought if it was less concentrated, the bite would be less severe. I tried it, and I think it actually worked!

Mom, I have a nice little recipe for you. Its Pudim de Leite, a Sister in the ward gave it to me. Ah man, I cant remember if its 3 or 6 eggs, I think 3. 3 eggs, ~13 oz of sweetened condensed milk, and ~13 oz of regular milk. Beat in a liquidificador (blender) for a few minutes. In a pan that makes flan, or pudim de leite or something (Im pretty sure Grandma has one, maybe you could borrow it?) put 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water, and boil over the stove. Dont mix it though, just let it sit. Then pour in the egg/milk mixture, bake at 350 degrees in a banha-maria (double boiler-type idea, a pan of water with the pudim de leite pan sitting in the water) this helps it not burn. Cook for an hour, I think. It should be a bit firm, and a knife should come out clean. I will double check and send it again next week with exact measurements and times to assuade your OCD. :D

A few weeks back, someone asked if Fortaleza was jungle. Its actually pretty deserty, surprise surprise, lots and lots of sand everywhere. It is very humid though, so its very interesting to live here. And I asked Elder Nascimento about when it starts cooling off. It doesnt. :O And Elder Nascimento says "Hi, whats up?" Mom, if you guys come to Caucaia, they have a Botanical Park that might be of interest to you and others. Oh, on a side note, I asked about family coming to pick me up, and they say its up to my mission president. And we are getting a new one a few months before I leave. :( Just an early heads up.

Dad, along with that picture to make me homesick, could you send a picture of Skeelee? I have one of everyone but her.

Trivia time. Sarah, remember how you named your Ipod Giuseppe? It means Joseph in Italian. 2nd, Brazilians pretty much as a general rule cant sing. Its...interesting. :)

Well, things are going pretty good. We werent able to confirm Marcelo and Francenilda. She didnt want to come to church, and Marcelo left early. (Sacrament meeting is last) Hopefully next week will work out. I will be sure to let you know about my investigators, your support would be welcomed very much. :)

Thank you for that story about the Temple, it was really powerful. Its just amazing some of the things that happen to people, it strengthens my testimony hearing about them.

Well, I think thats all I have for now. Id love to send pictures through Mission Ties since we have a package deal now. If you could let me know how I can do that, Id like it ver much. :) I pray for you every night, I know the Lord is with us all. He never fails, even in our weak places, He can help us when our defenses are down. We just have to come to Him. I know that The Church of Jesus Crist of Latter-Day Saints is true, that it was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know our Heavenly Father lives, and that He loves us.

~Elder Wille

P.S. I had a thought during General Conference that maybe you guys could invite the Johnsons over for dinner, or Family Home Evening, or something, and it seemed like a good idea to me. Im sure theyd appreciate, at the very least, not having to prepare dinner. :) And before I forget, Happy Halloween!

Last Weeks Letter

Dear Family,

Question and answer time!

So about the garments, theres two reasons. First, a pair of my shorts ran off in the CTM, and now I have an extra garment top. And... theres rumor of a first area curse, by the name of Montezuma, and I thought he would come a-calling, but so far Im okay. No accidents yet.

I havent had a chance to look for a card reader, but at the LAN House, they have them built in.

Mission Ties, I thought you meant write a letter from the website to you guys. Oops. Yes, I can send one to the Mission Ties office and itll be much faster. :) I got some mission ties letters in Fortaleza. I think they take a bit longer since Im not across the street from Mission Ties office anymore.

I can view email attatchments now, I think. Just cant download them. LAN House rules vary from place to place, we are trying to find a steady place to go to every week.

Speaking of LAN House, I talked to Elder Nascimento and we can have a set hour at 10 or 10:30 or 2. Places close for lunch here. Its a 4 hour difference, so your time would be 6 or 6:30 in the morning, or 10 in the morning. Do any of those work for you?

Mom, Brazil doesnt celebrate Dia das Bruxas (Halloween) here. How sad is that?

I dont know when itll start to cool down, we are headed into "summer" and its always hot. I can find out for you if youd like.

So who was this girl that says Im hers? Cause over here, everyone knows of Free Willie, and Ive adopted the name, because I dont have a girlfriend, I dont belong to any girl. Im Free Wille. :D

Sounds like a lot of fun stuff has been happening, I wish I could comment on it all, but I have a number of things I want to say.

So, the first week, I found out that you can get a blister inside another blister. Yay, lucky me! But I learned a way to treat blisters really fast. Use cleaned thread and go all the way through the blister, clip it with ends poking out. it allows it to stay open and drain. :) Very useful.

Mom, something intresting I think youd like is Brazilian cuzcuz. Its pretty much corn flour and salt, but you steam it and it makes this thing to eat on the side of a meal. I think youd like it, maybe take a look on the net?

And Id like to thank you for teaching me to clean up the cooking area. It helped a LOT. It was driving me crazy, and I finally cleaned everything up, and its all nice and habitable for dishes! :) Im so grateful for your wise instruction.

Today, I had maracujá (Passion Fruit) for the first time. Its pretty sour, but it tastes good. It reminded me a bit of orange snot when I ate it, but I tried not to think about that. And its got a lot of seeds.

I sent a CD with pictures on it, finally! It takes 20 days to arrive there, and I sent it 3 days ago. I hope it gets there!

Oh, I have a question. Can my friends can use the mission ties as well? And mom, dont worry about paying for pictures on Mission Ties, Id have to risk sending my memory card and losing it in the mail. So just letters. :)

I did my first baptism yesterday! Yay!!!!!! "Maybe itll even be a double hangin' " Just kidding. Marcelo and his younger sister, Francenilda, both were baptized by me. :D I wanted to celebrate, by breaking my fast with my Fast Break candybar, but someone stole it out of the chapel fridge! D: I put it there to cool and solidify, and someone took it. I even put my name on it... Oh well. In my next package, whenever that is, could you send another Fast Break or two? And more root beer? That was super fantastic. :)

An Irmã (sister) in the ward wants me to make American Brownies for her. She says she'll buy the stuff if I make it. Mom, could you send me one of your really good recipes next week? And Im not sure if they have dark cocoa powder here, I havent looked, cause my area is HUGE. So one with changeable cocoa.

Im out of time, but could you send me that?

Thanks for everything! I will send more next week!

~Elder Wille

Handwritten Letter

http://robert.willeweb.com/josh/12110918.pdf

15-10-12

Dear Family,

Time is kind of crawling again, but picking up. I think its just because I dont have a rhythm going yet. Its getting a lot better, and today I have an entire hour to email! I havent asked Elder Nascimento if we can do a set time for email on P-Day yet, I will do that this week. If so, I will see if we can do it at 11 or noon. With the time difference, hopefully it will be before Dad has to go to work.

Mom, my hair is acting pretty normal down here, despite the humidity. :) Its not curling, but maybe bring something just in case?

So I did get to meet my Mission President and his wife. Theyre really nice, I like them a lot. They live in a different building from the Mission Office (which is where all letters and packages should go ;) ) The Av. Santos Dumont one, I believe. As for emails, Elder Nascimento says its expensive to print stuff off. We use a LAN House, and I guess they can put whatever price they want for printing. Mission Ties, I dont have any information on login or passwords or anything. Im not allowed to send letters to you though, Im restricted to myldsmail.net, so no picasa either.

I have pictures of the MTC and a couple from my first week on a CD, I have to send it tomorrow. Theres a Feriado (holiday) in my area, Caucaia. I hope it gets there really soon.

The food here is very mild, almost no hot stuff at all. We have lunch at members' houses almost every day, and sometimes they have a bottle of hot sauce or something, and most of them think Im crazy when I put it on. :)

We dont tract a lot, the work here is very accelerated. Its one of the highest baptizing missions in the world, and we almost had one yesterday after church. His name is Marcelo, 14 years old, and he lives with his family. I cant quite understand through the accent, so I dont know a whole lot about him and his family, sorry. He has 2 sisters and a younger brother. Marcela is 16, Francenilda is 12 or 13, and Francenildo is 10. His parents are Josenilda and Marcelo, but they arent married. We will get them there though. :)

Conference was pretty good, I missed some time during it, because of meals and Priesthood session was at 1 in the morning or something like that. Plus, it was all in Portuguese... A bit difficult to understand, and very different from what Im used to.

The place is closing at noon, so I gotta go. Dang it. Thank you for the stories, theyre really cool! sorry for no comments on them. the wedding sounded great! Gotta go, bye!

~Elder Wille

Camera Cord

Dear Family,

First week in the field, check! Made it to P-Day, check! I only had a half hour today for email, and five minutes to write this, cause we traveled to Paracuru for lunch, so I'm sorry I wont be able to answer very many questions. I forgot to mention that I did get my package the day I got there, sorry about not saying anything! I didnt open it until after I sent the email. So THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE GOODIES! And the mini drug store. :P hahaha. Im actually not sick anymore, but I appreciate it very much. :)

My companion is Elder Nascimento from São Paulo, and hes finishing up his last few months. I get to kill him (send him home, Im his last companion) and he speaks very good English! Its amazing, he learned from his previous American companions, never been to America. Its very helpful when I dont understand things, but its also a crutch that I kind of didnt want. Oh well, I'll do what I can.

Dang, time to wrap it up already, sorry! Mom, I'll have to read your emails next week, I didnt have much time for that, or for sending pictures. Sorry! Oh, before I forget, letters to the Mission Office please. :)

I love you guys so much, thank you for your prayers! They really help. I know that the Lord lives, He helps us every day of our lives, gives us strength to face day to day challenges, and loves to hear from us in our prayers. Trust in Him, He'll always be there.

~Elder Wille