July 28

Ah man i miss that kid!(Parker) I received your package today! Symphony bars! ohhh yeh! thanks! Also tell Sis. Berret thanks and the young women for that package I got. I got a few letters today, and one was from Terri.
This week was prob one of my most favorite and most dissapointing.
So a few days have passed and all is going well with my frustrations. I'm calming down a bit and just relaxing realizing time is going to fly by whether i enjoy myself or not, so I'm changing my lookout on things. But it's been interesting because that night I had trouble sleeping, I was thinking alot. Because the family seemed really familiar to me. They seemed so close, although we only met just once. But it seemed just like normal and usually it is tough teaching people, well sometimes, but for them it wasn't. It was really easy for me to just look them in the eye and tell them what I knew. In this area it was the 1st time i really felt the Spirit, as I took control of the situation. The Spirit just worked through me and told me what to say, and of course I tried following as best I could. It feels like I've known them before and so i was just comfortable with them. But of course you know the situation so it's kid of stressing me out because of what happened. It's tough but I am 100% sure that it is in the Lord's hands. I pray almost every night about them. But only time will tell.

Yesterday kinda of lightened me up a little bit. We were knocking some doors and found a kid thats nineteen. He accepted a date and he's pretty legit. But he loves his earrings. haha. Come to find out, he plays basketball. Which is like finding, idk...a car without a/c in AZ. Turns out he looks just like Amare Stoudamire too! Which is nuts. Huge nose and everything. And he plays the same position. It was sweet to talk to him about ball and stuff like that. So I'm def. looking forward to going back tonight. I can't wait. I might need you to send me a Suns jersey here in a couple weeks haha.
Well! I hope everyone’s doing alot better at home! with the Parker situation and everything. And i hope all of you are receiving tons of blessings as I am out. I know the Lord is guiding me and I see His hands almost everyday showing the path.
Love ya guys and thanks for the packages!
-Elder Grant

July 21

This was my first week in my new area. Its called Santa Lucia. Its dirty rich. In the center of the city. But we only work on one part. Which is a huge hill of house upon house upon house upon house. Theres busses that just go up and down taking people. And get this. Its only a Quarter! But everything else is expensive. We have a frew McDonalds, a Couple Subways and Pizza Huts and Dominos. Oh man Makes me super homesick haha. Ive had a milkshake from Mcd's the past 2 days. they are soooo goood. Much better then in the States.
The place we work is crazy. The roads are just like hallways. and last night i almost took out a guy on a bike. Theres always music blasting and occasionally you'll get a motorcycle driving through there. But its good. My comp just turned senior this transfer and its....well.... a learning experience. For both of us. Its been tough for me. ha I think we fought everyday except yesterday. Hes Brazilian. and just a senior. so yeh I'm still Junior. which yeh... is lame. But i know why I'm in this situation now and It helps me stay happy knowing that.
I've seen a Ferrari, a few Porsches, and BMW's are just normal around here. Its a beautiful area. But really hard to baptize rich people. This week I'm playing in Sacrament the few hymns that i know. I'm a bit nervous because my fingers havent hit the keys in a few months. Here in the center a lot of people speak English. Which is kidna good but not. But its funny because I walk into shops and ask people questions in English. and sometimes they understand me! and the others they just give me a blank face then i switch then their eyes get bigger. When we are walking on the road and stuff my comp's mouth is like a motor. I dunno where he gets the gas but it just keeps going. He talks lazy portuguese so i just nod my head and say uhuh. Amazingly it works 90% of the time.
well I'm doing good! learning alot still amazingly at a fast rate. which is good.
I pray for you guys everynight and morning. I hope that all of you are receiving blessings from the open windows in heaven!
well Love ya mom Hope your doing great back in Az with all the grankids broken legs and smelly babies!
Love, your son,
Elder Grant

July 14

Well hello!
I saw the pics of the babe. Ha already looking pretty good and hes like a week old! That's crazy that Nate and Aaron are gone. I remember hearing about their calls. So long ago. but so short. ha Aaron is in Brazil snap! That's funny you went as us to the open house. ha oh moms and pops. I hit 6 months yesterday. Seems like forever but seems like so soon. It's weird how time works here. I got transferred to my new area here in the center. called Santa Luzia. Its a really nice area. Like rich... BMWs and all. It feels like I'm just in Phoenix with all the sky scrapers around me. except for one dirt poor area that is just a ginormous hill of poor houses.
I was kinda sad to leave me last area. We had some sweet people ready to baptize this Sunday. And i didn't wanna leave the comfort of getting used to the place. Two boys who had 20 and 22 years were so awesome. A few nights before we met them we were making contacts on a road. I felt impressed by the Holy Ghost to talk to this one man. He didn't really wanna stop and talk and kinda kept walking slowly away. Then as all Brazilians do, end up just having their own conversation out of nowhere. Then he proceeded to continue walking and I said "Hey, Where do you live" out of nowhere. And yes he told me where he lived and everything. The next day we went there and he wasn't home. But we found Leonardo 20, and Junior, 22, who were firm in their churches. But they understood everything we taught and now this Sunday they're getting baptized. Oh man they were just like members, Leonardo was asking when I become an Elder, can i be Elder Leonardo? ha of course we said yes. Ah man Then last night our last family that we were helping get married and baptized we talked with. They have 2 boys 6 and 10. The oldest, Anderson, was supposed to be baptized last Sunday but that's another story. so hes getting baptized this Sunday, but i wont be here. I thought he was gonna choose me to do it, but I had to leave. So as i was leaving he just ran up and gave me a hug. It was so tough. You guys have no idea. I didn't wanna go! ha but i know that its because I'm supposed to be here.
Well,,, I hope everyone's doing absolutely fantastic back home. I miss everyone.
Love ya,
-Elder Grant

July 7

Ha finally he came! That's good Shars doing better. Tell Shar Heather and G-ma i said happy Birthday and especially a happy BIRTHday for Shar. This week was good, i got to go to a Zone leader conference yesterday again so that was good. transfers are already next week. Its crazy soon. I don't think either of us here will be moved though. But who knows? This place has been good But I wanna do more here. The language is getting alot better. Its getting easier to talk to people normally instead of having a mess in my head. But i dunno, ha its always been hard for me to start talking to people, but when i start its hard to stop me. I think I fit right in with the Brazilians in the hard to stop part. But I don't think I'll have that problem with talking to people with Portugese here So that's one less thing to worry about.
Next week will be 6 months! How crazy is that. It's hard to think about all that has happened in the past few months ha already a fourth done with my mish. yikes. Whats weirder is that its getting a little bit faster each week.

well here are some pics. baptism and... soccer field. ohhh how i wish i could play.
Love ya hope everyone's doing well with everything and shar and tanner are excited to have a kid! ha!
-Elder Grant

June 30th

Oh Mom...
This week was pretty good! Here are some pictures of the baptism we had. We finally got the mom to come back to church and hopefully we're gonna be able to baptize another one of her kids and a friend of theirs wants to also. This week we have 3 planned but only 1 or 2 are 100% One is a girl whose 19. Shes pretty much a member already before we met were. Living all the commandments and everything. Just pretty much popped up out of nowhere. Got a letter from Cedar today. He tells me he's a senior already and he's freaking out. I'm so glad im still a junior and learning all the ropes still instead of grabbing in the dark. Here in Florença is a nice place to do the work. Lots of people are being prepared. We´re changing up how we do things here and are just working on looking at one day at a time. So far it's been doing pretty well for us.
We were able to teach 2 lessons during the game this week. One was to a boy whose 19. He literally has nothing. His house is smaller then my room at home and his bed is the ground and that's about it. No door and lives right next to a brook so its freezing at night. He's got so many problems but were trying to help out of the ditch he's in. You can see the doubt and troubles and how much he lacks in hope just in his eyes. But he's got a smile that could make anyone appreciate what they have. Just lights up the day. Ha its hard Not to smile after you see it. Oh boy its good to be to here in Brazil.
Were being blessed so much even through our difficulties. My difficulties are becoming less and less as I'm becoming more accustamed with the language and teaching and everything. The Lord really is preparing the way even when you can't see.
I hope you all are being blessed abundantly back home. The whole fam! Mom I hope your doing awesome and great having the summer off and having another grandkid on the way! ahhh yeeeaahhh! I hope dad stays bishop til i get back. And thats interesting. B Bluth ward clerk ha nice...
Well I'm doing good!
Love ya Mom hope everyones doing good back home!
-Elder Grant

Hyello peoples!
This week went by pretty quick. Lots of good stuff happened. Besides our broken toilet and us being sick from it!
On Sunday we sent a member to go get a family we are helping reactivate and baptize one of the kids. Ends up the bus that we take never showed up. And so we were late for church because it had to come back and get us, then the investigators already went back home. So we put our stuff in the church. Turned around and walked an hour or so back to our area using the highway. Ha at our church its backwards. We have Sacrament Meeting last. Which is sooo awesome. So we finally got to her house and she was way surprised that we walked all the way back to come get her and her family. But as the situation was, she sent her daughter, who is going to be baptized this week, to go get food. And so she couldn't leave. So she said wait here and if se returns we'll go. 20 min later we decided to leave because her daughter wasn't showing up. We started walking down back to church and 5 seconds after we left the house, we ran into her daughter! oh yeh. so we hurried up, found the bus stop and payed for the family. We arrived right after the opening prayer and announcements took forever so they got to come to sacrament meeting. What timing! Ends up as the story goes, she was baptized 2-3 years ago, by 2 Elders from Arizona. Weird I know. Coincidence? I think not. But hasn't gone to church since 3 months after her baptism. So 2 ish years of inactivity and yeh. She said we were the first elders to get her to come back to church after years of teaching her family. oh yeh. it was awesome. You could see it in her eyes the changes that were happening in her family as we kept stopping by to help and finally got them to church. Awesome.This week is her daughters baptism and its gonna be sweet!
Also we had zone conference yesterday. Its always good. After every one we all just wanna go get to work. But once we get on the bus were just like dead. Ha its pretty annoying cause it happens every time. The 1º part was on the Atonement. It was way good. I was able to understand a little more about the role of the Savior and the need of His Perfect Atonement, and what the Atonement means for all of us. Was way sweet.
Well I hope everyone's doing good back home! I'm doing pretty good here!
Could you send me some stuff to makes s'mores Mom? The past few weeks I've been really craving some.
I hope everyone's doing good back home and you're all being blessed!
Your son who IS serving in Brazil,
-Elder Grant



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June 9
It's Freeeeezing! at times... it gets pretty cold here in my new area. A lot more then my old one. The first few days were terrible. I'm not gonna lie. I was freaking out. You know how all Arizonans get when they don't have the usual sun during the day. I was getting way depressed and sad. I was praying for sun. I won't lie. And it finally came to my luck? If that's how you say it. But it's good. Love the sun during the day. Shivering under the blankets at night.
We're having a good time here. It's really nice being a Junior to an LZ. I do pretty much.....nothing. No I can't sit in on the interviews but we travel about a half hour to the next bairro. I pretty much know how they run though. It´s not to hard to imagine. This area is really different from my last. 2nd areas are always tough i hear. But it's good. The bishop is literally crazy. He´s got one of those looks that stares ya deep to the soul. But he eats and breathes missionary work. So that's good. The members are bomb diggety too. Referencias like crazy. My last areas we got like 2. This we already will have like 10 in one week. Talk about jackpot!
Yesterday as Conselho(council of zone leaders) de LZ´s. I get to go to every one because i´m always with an LZ. Yesterday´s was a really good training. I liked it a lot. Lots of good things are going to be happening here in MG. Especially with me. I'm learning so much from my comp. I have to speak the language 24/7 which yes is extremely annoying but the last week i improved i could tell. My English is getting rougher to speak. tougher too. My comp can speak phrases. But i think he knows more. Because he's reading this email right now!
My area is dirt poor. Both my feet were just dirt. Socks filled everything. Just blessings here pretty much. Trials like crazy but só bêncãos sabe?
por favor me mandar uma toothbrush!
Well i hope everyone's doing great. Blessings are flowing in. Until next week!
Love ya moms and pops,
-Elder Grant

June 2
Yikes. this week was transfers. I got put in a new area called Florença. de Zona Pampulha. It's nothing compared to my previous area. It's dirt poor ha. All dirt roads, our house is well... we can sleep eat and study lets just say that. All we need right? There's lot of cheap stuff here though. So hopefully that will out weigh some things. My new comp is Elder Conceição. 1º Brazilian companion. He can speak a few words in English like High School Musical and Rain drops keep falling on my head. Only simple phrases. oh boy. This transfer is going to go by really really..... slow. Ha well see. He's an ZL so it's my 3º transfer with an ZL. Pres. Parella talked with him and set our goal for baptisms. Our zone is the top baptizing zone and our area is well... yes. So this transfer we have a huge goal. I'm excited. It's going to be way tough. ha but you'll be getting a lot of pictures soon. It's so weird. I'm in a new place with a new comp. I have that gut feeling but I'm way excited. Oh my.
World cup is coming up! I can't wait. We can't watch it but it's gonna be way cool. The people here go nuts. Everywhere has Brazil shirts and flags e coisas assim. nossa.
Love ya mamãe! sinto saudade!
-Elder Grant

May 26
Well hello from below the equator! So, no matter how hard you try, the water still goes the other way. Trust me. Some days are cold here. But not enough to wear a sweater or anything of that sort. But my shower doesn't have hot water anymore. Just cold. It's tough at nights. Oh boy. The SUNS baby! oh how I miss watching them. Oh my gosh i wish I could be watching the playoffs! I hope they win. If they win you guys have to buy me a shirt or something. It will be terrible if they win while im gone. Iyiyiyi!
This week was interesting. People just pop up out of nowhere. For real. We marked 2 dates for Sunday. Both of them are really old. 60 ish and 80. The 80 year old is a woman named Maria. She has 2 jobs. And only drinks water. Nothing else. Shes a trooper. We're teaching a lot better. The Lord is truly blessing us. People just appear and it seems like they are just like Joseph Smith. Been to many churches. and are confused. Most have been baptized or married in other churches. Its nuts. This week we talked to a man who is the head of all the churches of a certain religion in Itaúna. The gospel really is perfect. The guy oh my gosh. He knew it too. But he kept trying to tell us were wrong. But then we had every answer and yeh it was just interesting. For real.

well this week has been good. Next week is transfers. I dont find out til Monday what's going to happen. The language is getting alot better. Teaching is fun now. And these people keep getting more interesing each day. Boy do they love to talk.
Oh btw, i got bit by this bug yesterday. My hand looks like one of those latex gloves with water in it. Word on the street too is my city is one of the few cities with "Dengue" in it. Some disease that bugs carry around... or something like that. maybe I should do something about it?
Love ya Miss ya Mom

-Elder Grant

- Show quoted text -

May 19, 2010
Well hello! A second each day? Now that explains it....
This past week was pretty good. Found a family. oh man love em. I’ll talk about them later. We had interviews with president on Monday. It was really good. He's a really different man. He is settling down in his calling just like you said and he's changing things up little by little. He's really inspired. My interview was really interesting just like last time. This past Zone conference Elder Tobias of the Seventy came. He talked about sanctification and Boldness. As we purify ourselves in our calling here and speak and act with boldness the work will progress he promised. Its interesting because you can see the missionaries who really have the characteristics and those who don't. You have to be sanctified to be bold. Being bold is something really hard to do if your not pure. Just like when you sin its hard to go about things normal. This past week I've been trying to be more urgent with the work. Its been really good. There's nothing like promising blessing and helping people see the truth. The language is coming too. I find it really hard for me to study the language. But i still get better so much. I'm trying more things during the day because i know if i am comfortable I’m not progressing ha so its good.
This family we found this week is so awesome. Its a mom a daughter and 2 son. I love the sons. We were looking for an old investigator and we talked to them on the road. There 12 and 14. They were playing with Pokemon and Yugioh cards. It reminded me of myself like 5 years ago haha. they were like surprised when I told them how many i had haha. We taught them the 1st lesson all together, the whole family. The mom has a troubled life. Like almost everyone drugs/cigarettes and alcohol are part of here life. Its so sad because these kids are so awesome. The whole family accepted a date. And this week we have to get them to church so they can be baptized before transfers. We’ve gone there every night but the mom is difficult to find. I pray and hope so much that tonight we can find them! I barely know them but i love them sooo much. Those kids are so sweet.
I got a letter from Cedar this week. He’s in a dirt poor area. It’s a lot like here but my area has only some houses like his. He’s doing really well it seems like with the language and all. He's right on the beach too haha. lucky duck.
Well I hope everything is going awesome back home. Jason is lucky. Its my dream to live in Cali by the beach after I get home! ah! lucky. Jon is going to get a solid job soon. I know he will. Hope dads doing great too. and Heather! Mom love ya much miss ya too.
-Elder Grant
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Well hello! yes, send a Ensign. I would looooovvee it! That is good the garden is going good! Talking on phone was really weird for me. It was way different being on speaker a lot, and always talking about me. Really different. I wish I could have talked to you too mom, but it was really good talking to Jason for a while. I wasn't too trunky after, just went by really fast when we talked.
We've taught a lot of people this week, tons understand and felt the Spirit, then they dont act on it. Its sooo tough to see that. We taught this lady and she believed it and she knew her church was wrong but she wouldn't stray from her church. Iyiyiyi!
That's good everything is going good back home, I'm so excited to get the Ipod so i can listen to music at home! I hope it makes it here!
I'm glad your sending another package! I'm excited. If you could, send some Oatmeal, like the brown cinnamon and sugar ones, or the ones we had in the house before I left. I would LOVE some of those.
That's funny Jordan wants to go camping. I think its hilarious. I miss camping.
Well I hope every things going good back home and that you had an awesome Mothers Day!
I'm doing great here!
I love ya mom! and everyone else too.
-Elder Grant

E Ai! ha seems like lots of exciting stuff is going on back home! i wish i could have seen Heather's play.

ahh how i miss vball. sad about injuries. i bet coach is hating it haha. haha. i got an email from Jason. it was nice talking some port. with him. both our vocab is a little lacking. ha esp mine.
that's so cool they're dedicating it (Gila temple). i wanna go there when i return. for some reason when i think of Gila Valley i think of like an ugly temple. hopefully not. yeh i was at the Snowflake dedication.
well this week was good. fast. is getting a lot funner. now that i can understand and talk more. we have a baptism planned this week! finally. it's gonna be good. she's really excited. i'm excited. i'm not gonna say much cause i'll talk to you guys Sunday. so i'll just keep it short.
find out how the suns are doing. ask chelsey or the girls how Alex Inglish and Wade are up to. umm..i duunnno... that's all i can think of now. well anyways till Sunday? :) i'm excited!
well im out gotta go get some things done here.
love ya much mom! miss ya much too.
talk with ya Sunday
-Elder Grant

Opa! sorry today's email has to be short. Im in the mission office doing email cause we had to do something with my comps visa. but this weeks been good. we found some ppl. one is a 14 year old girl Laurisa. she had a lot of ?'s about life and the next and what happens. shes very smart for her age. her parents aren't any religion but very... religious. no denomination i mean. her mom keeps peeping in and out of each lesson. i think they both will come to church and be baptized. vai ser bom! we also found a middle aged lady Solenge. shes a teacher. it was nuts. she has a Ph.D. and shes way smart. every question she had for us we were able to answer. i sooo hope she will be baptized. shes very firm in what she believes and very curious. shes read the bible multiple times and is very interested in who we are the BOM and our Church. i love it because she can understand me sometimes and when im confused she knows so shell stop and explain her ?'s to me. its like i have a tutor. haha but not really. shes way cool. way crazy. haha well pday is like close to being over and we have to go take a bus to our area so i gotta jet,. but guess what is coming up! MOTHERS DAY! yayaya. i cant wait to call home. i dont know any info yet on it but next week i shall know. its good. i got your package today too. whats this with a already opened bag of jelly beans??? but thanks much. im so glad i got more shirts and a pedometer. its gonna help much. my shirts are starting to turn colors. yikes. oh wells. i saw a Ferrari this week btw. it was nuts. i had to stop and think what just happened for like 5min. chic de mais.

welp gotta bounce! i pray for the fam and you and dad cada noite. answers come! i know!
well love you all and miss ya tons! :)

heyo! transfers happened today. I’m still in the same area but i got a new comp! his name is Elder Lundin. he’s from Mesa! Nuts huh? he went to Desert Ridge i think. he lives over by Crimson and Baseline i think. its pretty cool were from the same place. its cool i got another American comp. but kinda not. one day I’m gonna get a Brazilian and have to speak Port all the time. yikes. Its coming though i know. but for now oh well. he’s been out a year and 6. that’s nuts. i only have 3 months ish. Transfers are tough. its weird not having the same person your used to working with. now i have to get used to another one. ahh.. changes changes! it'll be good though. i know a lot more then i did 6 weeks ago so its good. this week we had the baptism of Ohana and Iasmin. 14 and 12. wow. it was awesome. it all started conference weekend. me and Elder Brown were trying hard because we wanted to go to conference. so we were looking for an investigator to take. we ended up finding one. then our original ride fell through because he had no gas. then we went to another member and he said take my car... tempting ha but he told the other member to drive it but he wouldn’t. so we were feeling down and like why cant we go to conference? ahhh.. and all the time i was like... well if there is a reason were not going to conference there must be a good reason. and i was like we need to find someone today. so we went back to work and then our member who works with us was like well I’m bouncing and so he left. all the while it was pouring rain off and on and we didn’t have umbrellas. so yeh. lame. then we decided to just knock some doors....
1st door this lady let us in. so were like sweet. but whatever... she accepted and we kept teaching her. the next day her daughter was there. and she took notes on everything she read in the BOM and we talked a lot about it. then we taught them about the word of wisdom. they drink coffee everyday. the next day the daughter was about to drink but she decided not to. awesome i know? then the next few days we taught the law of chastity and all the lessons. the 2 daughters ended up coming to church. and the one Ohana decided she should prob but more modest clothes so she did. Then she decided maybe I need to take our my extra piercings.. and she did! guess what is sitting on my desk at home! one of them! snap! it was so cool to see them progress. so on Sunday we had their baptism. it was so awesome to get to know them. this week were trying to get the mom and her friend to come to church and be baptized the following week. i hope hope hope they come. ahh but Ohana. she’s so elect! she wants to just do the right! her younger sister Iasmin has a tough time with piercings though. but shell change. but it was sweet. This week we have 4 planned but they’re sketchy. one guy Maxwell . awesome guy. gente boa. got a problem with cigarros. but he wants to be baptized. ahh i sooo hope he does out of all them. i love him the most. Well anyways. That’s whats been happening with me. got a new comp. kinda sketched out just because its alot of new stuff. Really nervous and anxious. Seems like i can’t escape that ha. cant wait for my package! Well i guess im out.. till next week eh?
love ya fam love ya mom. hope your all doing well and going good.

-Elder Grant

im improving little by little. except for me being a little sick last night and today its been alright. starting to get chilly here. totally unexpected. the work is going good. really tough though but im starting to be satisfied with what im starting to do. before i was always depressed and sad and didn't really wanna keep going through the language struggles and the feelings of being bound down. but the Lord is helping much. i have been praying for help and for gifts of the spirit to aid me during my long but short time here. i can see how some of my experiences prior to the mish have worked up for experiences i will have here. still tough. i've found out one thing about me so far on the mish. i stay committed and consistent. lotsa times i've just wanted to stop. and stay where im at. quit working with the language, or learning how to teach and love these people..but i just keep going. with goals you like to see the end result and compare with the beginning, and along the way compare progress. right now its difficult to see the progress i have made. but each day i try to wake up and commit myself to increasing each day; so the next day i can tell myself, yesterday i couldn't do this, say this, etc. one thing i learned to is that we should write down the blessings we received that day. and eventually they will add up. i did that and its way interesting to see what the Lord blesses us with.
each day i pray for gifts and blessings. and also to see who the Lord wants me to be and what He wants me to accomplish here. wow its a good feeling to be able to see some of those things.
ahh! i cant wait til i can be comfortable! im easing in though. its good. transfers are next wed. ooh boy. im hoping and praying for an awesome companion. i wanna do some good things. im reading this book about faith. im trying to apply it in my life. in the scriptures we learn alot about faith and how it can affect lives of thousands. how the faith of many can have affects. but also how the faith of one and the lack of another can detract and keep blessings from coming. boy it is so true. thanks for the scrip´s you sent me. its true if ever we say if, or doubt, faith is gone. that principal has been made manifest plenty of times already.
yesterday i went with my comp to the Counsel of Zone Leaders. it was nuts. a Seventy came and talked and so did President Parella. im so anxious to do lots of good here. im so anxious to change peoples lives. we are promised alot if we are faithful and worthy. i wanna do so much here! ahhh! my head hurts thinking about it. im motivated to learn quicker just because of that.
last week Bernardo was finally baptized. it was good stuff. he was huge. and i got to baptize him! on...yup! April 10º!
also this week we have another one planned. maybe 2. her name is Ohana. shes elect. last night we finally got her to take out her extra piercings. everyone here has them and her sister has a problem with them too. but last night she took one of them out and tonight shes getting the other one removed! it was so coool. she gave one of them to me. it was amazing to see her faith. she loves to drink coffee. that's like a 2nd staple to beans and rice. and earlier this week she had a huge cup of warm coffee. but she decided she didn't want to drink it anymore. we were like whhhatt! yes! it was awesome... straight up. her baptism is Sunday so its gonna be awesome.i cant wait.
ill send pics. speaking of pics can you send some of the fam and vball pics that i have and random ones! the brazilians want to see other pics then me and cedar and girls haha....
mom. i miss your food.
can you send me some recipes for like cookies and food? any would be nice.
well i love ya mom so much and the fam. keep me in your prayers and you guys will be in mine.
um braço e beixo pra voce e tudo mundo!
Elder Grant

I'm so jealous (we went to conference). we ended up seeing only one hour of conference. i understood almost nothing haha. we have to bring investigators if we wanted to go to conference and we only had one able. then i payed the last of my money to get there ha. so since sat i have been broke. and we don't get money til the 10. yikes. well see ha. oh by the way. the 10th is a pretty big day huh! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! LOVE YA. hope its all good and well and you get to have all the kids there with ya. thanks for getting that package off. i cant wait to get something from someone! Ive only gotten 2 letters so far and i lost one! but oh well. this week we had interviews with president. truly an inspired man. hes the lieutenant type of president. just so you can have an idea. my interview was interesting. talked about some different stuff. he pulled out a book from his bag and shared with me some personal things from conference he didn't share with anyone else. wow. that's all i can say. this week has been good though. kinda fast kinda slow when i struggle. but we have 2 scheduled baptisms for sat and Sunday. last weeks fell through..... but this week will be good. we found more people to teach. this family of 3 girls. mom and 2 daughters. one of the daughters takes notes on what she reads. they all are so intelligent! they remember lots about what they learn. i love them so much. i find it easier to teach them. they're date to be baptized is the Sunday before transfers. i soooo hope they all are baptized together. they would be such a strength to the branch here. ahhh i hope and pray! today we should be getting our fridge back. we finally got it fixed. so now we can have suco and stuff instead of buying food every day and wasting money. im so happy! by the end of next transfer ill have the language down better. im reading a book that talks about the power of faith and how we can use the powers of heaven to aid is in our everyday life. its a great book. especially for a missionary. i so wish i could have heard Hollands talk and the Prophets! ahh! well im glad grandpa sent me a note haha. and i hope everyone's doing good back home and all! p.s. can you send me everyone's addresses in the fam. and emails. por favor. and hows jon doing? and his fam?
my comps name is Taylor Brown from Draper. well thanks for your emails momma. i love getting emails. and talking to the fam. tell the fam i love em!
happy birthday mom. love ya much.
-Elder Grant

It is officially getting hot here too.. oh wait it never got cold. its weird. already my 3rd P-day. its seemed forever away but now its already here ha. time is going by but still seems really slow at times. each day is a frustration. every morning i hate waking up because i know what the day for me holds. lots of frustration and headaches for sure. the language is getting better but not to where where i feel comfortable yet. i think that will take another month or 3 or 10. i can tell my comp gets frustrated when we teach cause its mostly him all the time. and it bugs me to cause i cant say anything and its so hard to just start talking when you have no clue whats going on. we've taught some crazy people this week and last. haha oh boy the stories i will have. there are some interesting people here. but its all good. this week we have a baptism. both of ours fell through last week. and maybe next week well have another one or 3. well see. our zone has been suffering alot lately. my comp is the ZL as you know and hes also training me. pretty tough i think. but this week has been going better. its really hard to find the elect here. most people have just been wasting our time lately. letting us in to teach but not accepting. its extremely lame. it happens alot. but I've tried to pay more attention to how people accept and talk to us and i am starting to pick up the people that really need it and the people who are a little further down the confusing road. you guys are so lucky. i would give anything to watch conference. even on TV. we don't get it here. and if we wanna go we have to bring investigators but we don't have any able to go cause its like an hour or 2 bus ride and no one can pay for it. so if you wanna send some ensigns of the talks next month it would be nice! i know dad prob will have plenty of those.
well im doing alright here.. hope you guys are doing well back home. love ya and if you can send me some of the stuff i said lat week gradually would be nice! oh and send me some fam pics! i have none and everyone always wants to see! and candy. oh and at deseret book there's a picture book that's like 5 bucks that has pix of like the 1st vision and stuff i can use while teaching. if you can find it there pleeeeeaaaasssee send it. it helps so much. well anyways.. i love ya mom hope everything's going good back home!

oh track and field. ha i miss those days. wow. timeout. the garden got planted. sounds like things are starting to happen in the grant household. ha. its funny. tons of people ask me if im related to President Heber J. ive gotten it like 5 times this week. its so different here. we have a branch in our city with 300 members. 50-70 are active. tops. but i was amazed at how much some of them know. suprisingly everyone is like you're American? and they are like amazed. it works when we make contacts and get people to let us teach them haha. but the members and especially others know so much about the bible and book o mormon and the gospel. and also the profetas. they know more about my ancestor then i do! i think i might have to study up on him.

i was reading in alma this week. started it monday and im in 30. it talks alot about missionary work and oppositions and the trials people have. not only the missionaries but todo mundo. i keep having this weird feeling inside me that reminds me of the miracles that happen in the book of mormon.

me and my companion do most of our work in the favelas. which is pretty much the ghetto. gunshots everyday. theres drugs everywhere and people drink and sleep that's all they do. but as i read in alma it is a perfect example of what is here in Itauna. peoples hearts are set on false things, false profetas, idols and many things. they are bnound by the power of the adversary, and they no nothing of it.

just like in Alma! as we learn the missionaries performed many miracles through great faith. lives were changed and nations were converted. i can see the iniquity that is going on in just this small city. each day i talk to people whose hearts are down troddened, whose spirits are low. i also see the exact opposite. people who will not let go of what they believe when we give them the truth. that is why we mostly work in the favelas. where the people are more humble.

this week might be my irst baptism. we have 2 scheduled but its gonna be tough. lots of hard work will be taking place in the next 3 days.

this week went by kinda quick but not...my comp is Elder Brown i love him to death. he does most of the teaching and most of the work. which sucks. this week was the most quiet ive ever been in my life. ive just sat there and tried to understand what people are saying 100% o the time, its so hard! this week i started teaching a principle or 2 a lesson,. i think ive butchered every one haha.

oh yay.

tell jon i said happy bday. i didnt know it was his bday oopsas...

speaking of jon, guess who my comp reminds me of. yup. my very own brother. i never would have guessed it. its so interesting. he has the same little laughs as jon. he smiles like him and he even looks like him! but he has blonde hair blue eyes. and yes same amount of patience.. haha and i would like to think he and jon teach alot alike. Elder brown is a great teacher. its so awesome to work with him. i think of jon like 50 times aday. it feels like im just walking and talking with my bro everyday. it made me love him and jon so much more and appreciate them both. it brought us closer real quick. i love him.

well im doing alright here. im learning a bit everyday. still really tough but its gotten funner.

miracles are waiting to happen here mom. i can feel it. as i see the state that the world is in it reminds me of the Book of Mormon so much. and how its likened to our time. and it truly is. the people are in need of this message. the Savior is coming soon. the more iniquitous the world gets the more miracles will happen. i can see it here. its a sign! i cant wait to be able to teach these people with and from my heart instead of my mind. im trying to take every advantage i get to learn from my comp. he is a natural leader. i would love to be his comp for a while. (well.... i prob will get bored of him soon haha) but i wish i could teach so much better! we would be so amazing along with the spirit. but nevertheless...

love you, mom. hope everything is doing good back home.

oh and my old teacher at the CTM might send jason some guarana soon. but idunno. anyways...

love ya! bye!

hope ya like the pics!

Yeh I am in Belo now. It's not that hot. It's pretty nice. My area is called Itauna. Just me and my comp. It's a more wealthy part of the state or part of Belo but it's still yeh...haha He's a zone leader and the only one in the zone, plus he's training me. Tough task. He's good though. His name is Elder Brown. He's from Draper, UT. He played bball for UVU and I guess he's pretty good. Our area is pretty big. I'm having an especially tough time now. I know barely anything! again! and my first day has been tough so far. Lota carrying luggage everywhere. Very annoying, just like this key board.with a broken mouse. The address you send it to is just the mission home address that was in the booklet. I get those every 6 weeks, with transfers.
My area has a lot of hills.

My Pres is pretty cool. He is really strict but if you're doing what you're supposed to be you're fine. A few months ago he sent home about 20 missionaries. yeh crazy. My trainer is pretty cool though I think I'll learn alot from him. Im mission home alot now. (not sure what that means.) It's gonna be really tough this next little while. I'm so tired already. Well I love you all and miss ya. Hope gma gets better and everyone does too. Well til next Wed!

Love ya

Elder Grant

Send letters/packages to the mission office until they notify us of his address in his first assigned area.

Elder Ryan James Grant
Missao Brasil Belo Horizonte
Rua Sao Paulo, 1781- 10* Andar
Ed. 17 de Maio - Sala 1001
Lourdes
30170-132 Belo Horizonte - MG

March 10
Well one week left! I talked to a teacher here who served in Belo. He said it was awesome of course. He also said the mission baptizes weekly...yeh. That's sweet which means they teach that much more. He also said they make the best candy in Brazil. Which I don't know if its a good thong or not. I'm almost out of American candy and I prob won't have any after that. So hopefully I don't get addicted to the candy there. He also said they eat a lot of Mexican type food. Which surprisingly I'm excited about. The food here is the same pretty much everyday. It's so bland. I can't drink guaranna every meal cause it rocks my system. So I've laid off that stuff. But for once I'm kinda hoping they have a lot of Mexican food there. But I'll deal with whatever.
Last Friday we went to the masp to proselyte. It was way cool. There were tons of people. We had 5 BoMs and we had about an hour or more to hand them out and talk to ppl. My comp is one of the more shy type so...I had to kinda take the lead. We met these shoe shiners on a side road by some shops and we talked to them. They were really cool. We talked to them for half hour and I told them they should read this book I had. They were like what book. And of course you know my response. And they were like no way... and I was like ok can you read a chapter for me? And they agreed. So I marked a chapter for both of them and gave them the number if they had interests or questions or such. And I said I'm not gonna give it to you if your not gonna read it and the guy grabbed it and took it. It was funny. so hopefully they read. I shoulda had them shine my shoes too.
It was really tough to talk to ppl when you barely know anything. Although it was way fun. It was really hard to understand them haha. My comp doesn't really know much and he stutters a lot so it is hard to follow. I just told him to be bold and firm and grab their attention. After I said this I walked up to ppl and said hello then stopped talking. ha It was funny. My comps face was like you gotta be kidding me. It was a learning experience for both of us. Only six days left and then my new trainer will probably do that same thing to me. Haha But I'm excited, the MTC here is really tiring me out. I don' think I've learned anything here. Provo was much better surprisingly. I don't have much more to write. I'm doing good here. My district is struggling with a lot of pride these last 2 weeks. It is very, very tough. No one really likes our DL and they don't listen to him. He gave them a challenge and we made goals and no one showed like any interest. It 's really frustrating to me when people say they will do something then don't. It bugs..This all happened before our district meeting and me and my comp were supposed to teach during DM. Our DL told us we didn't til next week but I was prompted by the Holy Ghost to just go ahead and teach, even though we only had like 15 min. to prepare. Once again my comps face turned read after I said we're gonna teach today. The lesson we taught was on having the qualities of being successful as a missionary. There 10 points in PMG. I had each elder write down 2 each to see if they would get any. Out of 10 elders, we barely got 2. The doesn't cut it. Once of the points was to the extent of loving and teaching your companions/other missionaries, like I said our district is, very...."my way or no way" minded. It turned out to be an interesting lesson. After, they said the challenge that our DL gave an hour prior was something they didn't want to do and most were opposed. The challenge was of course being more obedient and working harder and such the last week. which of course none of them opposed to doing but just by our DL saying it gave it a bad taste. Luckily, I was the DL back in Provo and I kinda had heeded and pondered the situation before and during the time we taught. I was again prompted to re-challenge what our branch president and DL said prior and was also prompted to ask them to erase their goals they had and start fresh. (since I've been in the MTC every time we make goals no one keeps them for the most part. It sounds all nice and pretty and an Elder made a paper with all the goals he got ppl to sign it which I thought was ridiculous.) I of course didn't sign it and told them how I don't agree to things I won't do and if I do I will do it. and I encouraged them to do the same. I saw some heads nod. Which was good to see. Then I bore my testimony on how we set goals to improve ourselves and our gifts that we are given. And how those gifts aren't in the least bit for you, but for others and in our case the people we teach....to bless the lives of others like it says in D & C. Afterwords, an elder came up to me and said I loved your lesson so much, you made what we were supposed to do more clearer and things. And I was glad of course...our DL has a problem with explaining things for too long and going on tangents. He talks monotone constantly and he is quite controlling. I'm going to put up with it for another week.
One reason I was glad we taught is because I learned a few things. I love taking the quickest route. I love being precise and not wasting time going from point A to B as fast a possible. The Lords work isn't quick. In fact it's very slow, but constant. It's very hard to humble ourselves and give up our way of doing things. I know that's why I was given a companion who walks behind me and stutters when he speaks and so I have to constantly wait for. I've learned a lot from him. I love that guy. But I'm very prideful and always want things my way which is occasionally fast. He works sssssllllloooooowwwwww...but I'm learning. I pray nightly to have my heart softened toward him. Prayers are answered.
Well, I'm doing great down here a world away. Only a week left! I hope everyone is doing well back home! Love ya.
Elder Grant

March 3
Well, hello. I'm in Sao Paulo right now. Its my p-day today so we get to leave the MTC. My flight was good. I played battleship for 4 hours. I only lost once. custom was repido. We only were at the airport for about a half hour. The weather is way nice at night. Very coo. We leave the window open sot he breeze comes into our room. Just my kinda room. I love it. OUr dorm looks onto the city. Its beautiful. There's so many ppl and building. Lots of high rises. The people here are really nice. They talk alot. Driving is an adventure everyday. They honk a lot. But just to warn or say thanks. unlike American...it's nice. You should have shar send my package to the mission home. Also, there's another thing called missionties, just like dearedler but for Brazilian mish's, so try using that. Tell Tif to throw it up on the FB. I'. so tempted to buy some clothes and shoes here. I love lots of the shoes that are here. But I am waiting til I leave to get some.
I got put with the same companion again which is a challenge. I was hoping for a Brazilian or at least someone else. I just hate being followed all the time. (He never walks next to Ryan) its like I have luggage that I'm always carrying around.
The food here is............well, beand and rice every mean. and of course guarana. I drink 5 glasses a meal. haha plus we we some other flook like rolls and meat every now and then. Surprisingly it is not too bad.
Our mish absorbed another mission so it's about 1/3 bigger then it was a year ago. It's now the whole state of MG plus more. Plus less missionaries, so luckily I'm for sure going there in 2 weeks. I can't wait. I heard my mish pres was like a drill sergeant, but I heard lotsa ppl loved him, so that's good. Everything's chill here. It's pretty much more like you make what you want out of it. If you do nothing you get nothing. . If you work hard then ya, but we have like no time to study or anything. I don't like it. But we'll see how it goes.
It feels like I've already been here before. I don't know how to speak. ha. That is what I am working on the most right now. On Friday, we go the busiest and biggest part of Sao Paulo to proselyte, Yeh I'm scared. I barely know anything. My comp knows less so...ya. It'll be interesting...
Well, my district is pretty cool. I love the ppl already. I just can't understand any of them, but they will talk if you talk. super nice, tell everyone I said hyello and thanks to Chris for coming to the airport. It was nice to see him before I left. Tell everyone I love em and I'm doing good. I gonna go walk around the city. Boa tarde
Elder Grant