The weather here is HOT!

Dear Family,

Lucas did get baptized it was really cool there where a lot of people there. But Eudes did not baptize him. Lucas wanted Elder Calaza to baptize him so that is what we did. We also had a baptism of a girl named Beatriz the same day. That was also really cool because we were not sure that she was ready but it all came through and it was awesome!

I am doing awesome! Portuguese is coming a lot better this past week. I am really happy that I am understanding more of what people are saying to me! It’s amazing that such a little thing can make me so happy. It’s not like I understand everything but just more than I have been. People are also telling me that I actually speak really well. So things with learning Portuguese are coming! I am so happy about that! I thank Heavenly Father every day for what I am able to understand and what I can say. Because if I don’t I think that he might take what he has given me away. I also have to watch out for the pride cycle that happens in the Book of Mormon and make sure that it does not happen to me.

We are teaching a man and his wife named Elton. I don’t remember his wife’s name, its a hard one (his name is Elton John, it made me laugh out loud the first time he told me). He struggles with the word of wisdom. He is really an awesome guy and is wife is also really awesome. They both know that the church is true and have a testimony of the Book of Mormon. They just struggle with the word of wisdom. I know that he knows that this church is true and he still falls into temptation of drinking and smoking. This is the first time that I wanted to cry because of an investigator.  But I pray for him every day, sometimes twice a day.

The weather here is HOT! I am getting used to being hot all the time! I don’t think that you can ever get used to the heat here but I think you get used to being hot all the time! We have still not gotten the money for our fans. So Elder Calaza and I still only have one fan for both of us. We called staff and asked them about it. They said that Pres. Jayme was out of the city for a zone conference and he has to approve it.  So he put it in yesterday and we should have it tomorrow or on Friday. I hope so because the fan we have right now is on the fritz.  Sometimes it stops working randomly.  It’s really weird.

We just had our zone conference yesterday and it was really awesome! It was the first and last time I will have a zone conference with President Jayme.  He will go home in June and we only have a zone conference every other transfer. Transfers are coming up in a couple of weeks and my companion thinks that he will get transferred but who knows.

Of course, I am keeping a Journal. I have already filled one. I have two more. I write a lot about what is happening. I am sorry that details get fuzzy for you guys. I guess you will have to wait until I get home to get all the complete details.  All of them are in my Journal.  I don’t dare NOT write in my Journal every day, because so much happens and I don’t want to forget anything.  It’s strange what you can forget. I was reading through my Journal the other day and was amazed about what I had forgotten about the MTC. So I write every day so that I can remember. 

It is really weird that I will not be there for Ryan’s graduation but this is where I need to be.  Ryan will gain a testimony of Jesus Christ. I pray that he will go on a mission so that he can learn and grow as much as I have. I want him to have this experience! It would be really cool if he went somewhere Portuguese speaking because then we could speak Portuguese together.

I love you guys and hope you have a good crazy week.

Love,

Elder Vaughn

Still Learning!

Dear Family,

Things here are good! Me and my companion have been sharing a fan that we use at night because it is so HOT but it is about to be summer here so it will be a lot HOTTER so we are going to buy another fan. The good thing is that the mission will pay for it so we just need to find one that will work for us and then tell the mission office how much it is and they will give us the money to buy it! I found out that fans here are really expensive! It will cost us $R 130 that is in Reais not dollars that is what the 'R' means in case you did not understand what that meant. I don’t know the exact exchange rate but I think that it would be about 70 or 75 dollars. And this is a small fan! I can’t believe what is expensive here and what is cheap! For example it is really cheap here to take a cab where in the US it is pretty expensive. I don’t understand.

Speaking of expensive my contact solution is about half gone so I decided that I should look around and find out where I could buy some. I found some at a drug store and one bottle will cost me $R 45! So I don’t know what I am going to do about that! Will you please look into sending me some because someone here told me that you could not send anything liquid through the mail. I don’t know if that is true but will you look into it and we can talk more about it on Mothers Day when I call.

My companion is a nice guy and I like him a lot but he is not as helpful as I thought he was. He is starting to get impatient with me and not speaking Portuguese. But I can’t help it! He has been speaking Portuguese for his whole life and I have been speaking Portuguese for only a couple of weeks! I am doing the best I can! I know that the Lord will bless me and that I will learn this language I also know that I can’t do it by myself. I need the Lord to help me and whether I like it or not I need my companion to help me. I will try hard to not get frustrated with it but it is a little hard sometimes!

On a good note I think that I am learning a lot about myself and about other people! I know that my testimony has grown so much since I have been in Brazil because I have had to lean on the Lord so much to be able to speak Portuguese and to adapt to a new environment and a new culture! When you have to put all your trust in the Savior you learn about your relationship with him and I am so grateful for the relationship that I have with God and my Savior! I want you to know that I love our Savior very much and that I KNOW that the Savior is helping me help the people that he loves in Brazil! I have personally seen the change this gospel can make in peoples lives and it is AMAZING! I am so happy to be a representative of Jesus Christ!

I am very happy to be here and glad that I have a chance to bless the lives of others with the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Spreading the word that there is a living Christ brings me so much joy! I know that I am not really doing anything and that God is doing great things through me! I am so grateful for this chance that I have!

I love you and can’t wait to call you on Sunday!

Love ya,

Elder Vaughn