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

First of all\; mission plaque scripture: I was studying this week, and encountered a scripture that I like better for the plaque if you haven't already used the other one. The other one is a bit more for me, this one is for all (D&C 68:2-6) If that's too long, I'll let you choose which part to use, just as long as verses verse 4 is included. 

I can't believe Glynn turns 12! He'll be a deacon!! Did I tell you guys about our investigator Pedro already?? He reminds me so much of Sam! Happy Birthday Glynn! Just remember! When I was your age, I was 13 already ;) and congrats on first class!

I RECEIVED A TON THIS WEEK! Both the journal/shirt package (which by the way, I have plenty short sleeves, that day was not hot, this picture was during lunch, at which time I'd temporarily rolled up my sleeves to not stain them with food. In all honesty, long sleeves don't make it much hotter. Suits on Sunday do.) and the smaller birthday package. It's going to kill me waiting a month for that, but I will wait. In respect to those things, mom, I'm pretty sure you receive revelation when sending stuff. The day I received those packages, I'd been talking to an american about things we miss from the US (foods, mostly) and I had mentioned specifically Swedish fish, good carmel, and various M&Ms. Then I opened a package and found those. It was amazing. I also received 6 letters from Grandma, and a letter from Bo.

Grandma: I'm not sure which of these questions I've already answered, so I'm going to try and answer all of your questions here: Plants that grow well, I have no idea. There aren't really plants in my area... or dirt... or much grass. It's mostly streets, sidewalks, and buildings... There isn't dirt at all within a kilometer of our house... Taylor and I can communicate together, but really, missionaries don't share many stories amongst themselves during the mission. Mostly how they're doing! But if you have his mission email, I'd love to mail him! I'm serving in a ward, where I'm not called to pass the sacrament, which is good because we have several investigators to sit with each week. I've only spoken once, and it was just a quick 3 minute intro/testimony. There are about 400 members, about 75 of which are active. My shoes are great (thanks mom) for walking! The mission president says that we walk to the moon and back in 2 years here... I think he's underestimating how much we walk ;) We eat really well... at lunch. Breakfast and dinner are usually up to use to p´rovide, so I eat lots of cheap stuff :) I've gained and lost weight in small enough portions that it could just be the fact that I'm using different scales each time. But my most recent weigh in, I've gained about 5 pounds since I left Texas, but about 7 pounds of that is probably muscle. I know that doesnt add up... I think I've actually lost 2 pounds worth of "extra" and gained 7 of muscle from excersising every mornign, despite having no weights or any other equipment besides a pull up bar. We play soccer every p-day, and at times for a half hour in the morning (almost all the chapels have a small "quadra" which is about like a basketball court with goals on both ends, and we live 2 minutes walking from the chapel, so we play us 4 at times) Our p-days consist of soccer, communication, and (potentially) purchasing stuff we need, if we have money... The weather is pretty similar to Texas, if not a bit cooler. We got to watch conference, in Portugues... I still enjoyed it and even learned quite a bit. Suits on Sunday are optional, but we wear them now so that when it gets hotter in november and december, we'll be able to take them off to cool off. The work is good. We have 3 investigators marked for baptism in the next two weeks, and that's not even unique here. 

We're teaching a ton of people. We make contact in the streets, contact references, on occasion knock doors, but that's weird to do here.

I don't know what else to day, so have a great week everyone!

Elder Beatty