(Photos are from last transfer)

As for the transfer, let's imagine that the San Antonio Mission extended from San Antonio to Houston. Well, then I've been serving in the San Antonio part for a whole year, now I have been transfered to Houston. Like I had to take a bus for 3-4 hours to arrive their with all of the other people being transfered to this zone. I'm seriously going from one extreme of the mission to the other. I am serving as a zone leader in Guaratinguetá (Pronounced guarachinguetah). So, Zone Leader is less work than District Leader... We basically just call the LDs and make sure they're doing their work, and we go to Counsels and pass the information for our zone afterwards.

My companion is Brasilian, and has been in the mission 2 weeks more than me (the brasilians pass only 2 weeks in the CTM (now it has been made 3) ). My ward right now is like if you were to put an air force base in Cody Wyoming... The major part of our area is normal housing areas, but if you walk for about 30 minutes you start to see farms and whatnot. Our house is about the size of our house back home, if we didn't have a second floor. We have a living room about the size of our family room, a kitchen with an bar about the size of ours, two rooms, a bathroom, another outdoor kitchen, a small backyard (without grass, just cement and tile) and a guest house with another room and bathroom, but the guest house hasn't been cared for very well... We live about 15 or 20 minutes from the church, which is our stake center here. I'm definitely keeping warm here. Usually, the temperature is hovering around 80-90 and gets down to about 70 on a good night hahahaha

We still walk almost everywhere here. We're counseled to work withing a 40 minute radius of our chapel, which covers about 20% of the area of our ward... We have several references and less actives that we're contacting way out of this radius, and sometimes we walk about 1 hour to get to our lunch and 1 hour to get back because tere isn't a bus that goes the route of that person's house and they don't offer us a ride... 

As for the address for cards and packages, it is, and always will be, the same address. Only now, I will only be going to the Office once a month for that leadership meeting on the first friday of every month, so if a card or package arrives right now, I won't get it until october. 

Loove you all!

Elder Beatty

I will be transfered, so this area will lose two and receive two new elders that I don't know. I will go to a neighboring zone to an area called São João Climaco (I think) to be a Zone Leader in the Iparanga Stake. I don't recognize the name of my new companion. This Saturday, this one Irmã here, knowing that I would probably leave the area, made her special beans (I don't know what it is that she does that makes her beans 10x better than any other) for our last lunch with her :) Then, her 10 year old son presented for me a scarf that they, as a family, had gotten for me as a small thanks for everything that I and my companions had done for them, their family, and the ward (they come from that family that makes up like half the ward and we have been working with various family members of theirs to return to church... With tears in her eyes she thanked me and showed me how to use it :)

We hiked to the top of the third highest peak of the state of São Paulo with the majority of the young men from our ward and took some pictures from there. There was a Stake high Counselor with us, too, who said we used to be able to see 1/2 of São Paulo from that peak, but because of polution it's just about 1/4th now :(

The new area is interesting... We arrived with the area cell, keys, and directions to arrive at the home. We made it with our bags, which is a funny but VERY long story that I'll have to save for another time. We didn't meet the Bishop until Friday, and the Ward Mission Leader until Saturday, only to find out he's also less active.

My companion speaks portugues REALLY well!! This is probably because he's from Brasil! hahaha he lives in the Southernmost state of Brasil, which is a lot like Texas, I hear. He says there are a lot of cowboys there, they are known for their BBQ, they were once almost a separate country, etc! lol We get along super well, and we're super obedient (he has a huge desire to be obedient), we're getting a lot of work done, etc... I'm actaully not a zone leader, but district leader (did I say zone leader last week?), but that means I am "over" 3 companionships, my own and 2 others (all sisters). So every night I call the 2 dcompanionships of sisters, follow up with their day, their numbers for the day, how they're doing with their companionships, obedience to the rules (including specifically asking about waking up at 6:30 and if they did all of the day's studies), how they're feeling, and giving them words of encouragement, and congradulating their work. Then passing that all on to the Zone Leaders. I also conduct weekly district meeting and give training for the district there. If they have investigators ready for baptism, I do the interviews, etc. I am supposed to have 1.5 hours to write email, about 1/4 of what we were using, so yeah, a bit tighter! Never heard of the zika virus... Unless it's known as Dangue here, than I have!

Valentine's Day isn't observed here... Everyone asks me if I'm missing "Dating Day" back in the US here... Then asking if I have a girl waiting for me... I alternate between 2 responses: "Actually, 2, my sister and my mom!" or "Actually, the problem is that I have a ton waiting, and each one thinks she's the only one." Both of which get a good laugh here ;)

Things are going great with the new companion! He has a huge desire to work and learn and be obedient to the rules, so I am super content :) He pretty much served a 4 month mission, leaving with the Elders to help them almost daily before his mission... So he doesn't have to adjust much... The only adjustments he's needing are that our mission isn't the same as where he was before. He has a ton of homesickness. He's from one of the most southern cities of Brazil, so I think about the distance of our home to the Morris side of the family... I think. He is 19 as well, but will turn 20 on the 24th... I'm thinking of celebrating that somehow... Ideas? 

The 6 month mark has arrived super fast! People area always saying "6 months? Woah, I thought you'd be almost finishing up!" But for me, it's like, "Woah, 6th months? Already? That's 25% of the mission gone already!! NO!!!!!" Hahaha we get to go to the temple every 6 months, and I went right after arriving in the mission, so I should get another chance more or less soon, but I don't know when...

As for my week, after 3 years, we manage to get the Father of a family of 4 (whose family is all members except him) to Church, and he is marked for baptism on the 27th. I really enjoy his family. He has a 15 year old son who is pretty much exactly how I was when i was 15, so I connect really well with the son. Because of this, he, being a bit less active before, is now probably the spiritual strong point in the family! Other than this family, the rest is work as usual :)

Oh, also, we have district meetings each week, where I have to give a 30 minute training for my district each week... This past week, the Mission President, his wife, and the Sister Assistants (I think this is a new thing... the mission now has 2 Assistants to the president (Elders) and two others (Sisters) that are also assistants) were in our zone for our meetings... So I had one zone leader, the 2 sister assistants, and Sister Silcox, the president's wife, in my distict meeting! That added a bit more pressure!!! Luckily I think that went pretty well. Then Fridayafternoon, a member of the Bishopric went with us to visit less active or non-active members... While walking from one visit to another, he asked me to give a 15-20 minute talk on the blessings of the temple in sacrament meeting... I had 1 day's personal study to prepare. That was terrible. But the spirit was strong during that hour, and I managed to prepare well :)mark or the 20. He said, I want you to talk till 5 past. This meant my talk had become a 25 minute talk! WHY?? Luckily, I am a lot better at talking and preparing talks now than I was before the mission,

Have a great week guys, talk to you next week! :)

Elder Beatty

New Companion:  He's from Cabo-Verde (I don't know if that has a different name in English) near Africa. He is the Senior Companion, and he wanted to spend the week cleaning our house, and getting to know the people and the area.  He's really fun when it's time to have fun, and works when it's time to work, gives criticism constructively when the time is right. Yesterday night, we had a "Home Meeting" where we planned the things this week that will affect all of us, talked about bills, cleaning that needs done, etc (I had the idea to do this to unite us all a bit better, etc.) and then we talked a bit about stuff we could all do to improve the lives of all of us... Another Elder suggest that we all try harder to get to bed at 10:30 and wake up at 6:30 (until today only I wake up at 6:30, we'll see if that changes) The other two are a Brasilian who's been here 7 months, and is training for the 3rd time already... And his "Son" who is an American that arrived this transfer. I really like the group I used grandma's birthday money to buy 5 ties and a pair of indoor soccer shoes :) All for $20... next transfer I'll probably use the Christmas $20 to buy a leather scripture cover that's really awesome :) 

Ola (Yes, that is the correct spelling) Mom and Dad :)

Friday, for the first time in 12 weeks, a meal did NOT include rice and beans! It was in the house of a less active Bolivian famiily who we're helping to return to activity because their daughter wants to serve a mission. The food was like steak chunks, pieces of hot dog meat, french fries, hard boiled egg, and ketchup, and mixed together like a sald :D it was awesome!!! 

My district has 3 duplas (companionships)... 2 duplas of sisters, and then E. Millaqueo and I. The zone (which has 3 districts) is made up of 5 duplas of sisters and 5 of elders. A perfect 50/50 split! This is unique to our zone. The other zones have 1 or 2 duplas of sisters (or one zone that has none) The sisters usually serve in the richer, safer regions. But they are usually more difficult to work in because wealthy people are harder to teach.

I heard about Paris, but not much. Only that there were terrorist attacks and that more than 100 were dead... Thanks for keeping me up to date in the world (complex events like that are hard to understand in a new language!)

I found a horse! I don't know how, it's pretty unique in this area. I've passed it a few times now, and it's always there! (Did I already send this?

E. Millaqueo and I made hot dogs because our lunch fell through that day! It was super delicious and cost us about $5 in total :) 

I love you all a ton

Elder Beatty