Everything is going good

Hmm, so a lot happened this week. We are working really hard and
finding a lot of new people. Elder Swayze is great.
Were in Belem right now. Rua Nazeré. Were going to get a bus back home
right after this.
hm, I dont know what to really say this week. Everything is going
good. starting my third transfer in Laranjeiras. (this keyboard is
super hard to type on) but yea.
Hope you all are good back home. love you guys.
Elder Arroyo

The spirit in our work is like no other

Good Morning!! So yea, its transfers. My comp is leaving. And im
receiving an American!! Elder Swayze. Hes only got like 5 months in
the mission. Im going to have to help him a bunch on his portuguese.
This week we baptized a man. Which completed a family. It was great.
The women was inactive. Man, Its like gold when I find a family in the
area that only one of them is baptized. Cause you get to bring one of
them back to church, and baptize the other. That brought back and
completed 3 families so far in Laranjeiras. And its not just the
parents that come back to church. With the parents comes the kids. Its
amazing.
I always ask the members, `do you guys know any less actives que live
close by` and usually theyll throw me one or 2. The other week we ate
lunch, and I asked the family the same question, and theyre like yea,
there is a family right here around the corner. But Elder, dont waste
your time on them. theyll never come back. We visited them 3 times in
2 weeks. I was sitting in priesthood, and I watched as that family
walked past the window to enter the church. The man with a white shirt
and tie, the women with a nice dress, and their child. There is no
substitute for the happiness in this work.
The other day, We were walking to an appointment, normal. And a man,
stopped me, and asked me if I was German. And I said No, Im American.
And he looked surprised, he said whats an American doing in a place
like this, and he started to laugh. We shook his hand. And the Lord
touched him. I said, `Brother, im here to tell you that the heavens
have opened, The Lord has called a Prophet, to Restore his church` The
Lord put him in our path. We passed by his house the next day, and shared
the Restoration of the Gospel with him. He said that when he heard the
words of the first vision, it made him want to cry. The spirit in our
work is like no other. He would be baptized this next week. But he
needs to get married first.
I know the Lord called Joseph to be a prophet. Its my favorite thing
in the world to tell people. I know the Lord is preparing this world
for the coming of the messiah. Its why he puts people in our path
everyday.
I got to finish here! And get the pictures from my comps camera. I
love you guys. And talk to ya next week!

Im grateful for the trials in my life

Good Morning mom. Its another P-Day. Transfers are next week, And I
have no idea, not even thought of what will happen. I really want to
stay though. The ward is growing stronger, and im just getting started
:P.
So yea, lets see here ahhh yesterday ha. So after church we took a bus
to a members house to eat. Its wayyyyyy hot as always, So we usually
eat outside under a mango tree. so there was about 8 people eating
with us, good amount. And were all eating, drinking, having a good
time. And I feel something fall on my shoulder... (of course right
lol) And theres no way im going to scream with all these people
around. I glanced at it, and it looks just like a huge caterpillar, So im
just like oh ok no problem, It didnt move, I thought it was scared.
And when I looked at it my comp looked at it as well, and flipped out,
and the critter started to run down my back, and then I just went
crazy lol. And a lady took off her sandal, and flung it off of me. All
this happened sooo fast. It ended up not being a caterpillar. They said
it was some kind of bug, that if it touches your skin with its hairs,
that it spreads a rash, and could kill you if you dont go to the
hospital. So yea, I almost passed out haha... I didnt know those
things exist. yea...
So on the spiritual side, our baptism fell, but its all good. Were
going to have a good bit of baptisms next week. My testimony is
growing so much. I know God puts soo many trials in my front. Some
times I just ask Him why are you doing this to me. I thought You loved
me. At least help me. And I look back at my trials, and I see how much
I grew from overcoming my difficulties. Without these trials in our
lives, theres no way we can get stronger. Its like that saying, No
pain, No gain. Theres that one scripture in Ether 12:27 that explains
it perfectly. That talks about God shows us are weaknesses so that we
can find a way to overcome them, so that we can get an even stronger
testimony. And we dont know the reason of all things. I know that God
is the Father, That He helps each one of us, as much as He can. But
Hes not going to give you the prize for free. we´ll learn nothing.
I just know that im growing everyday out here. Not only spiritually
but as well physically. Im grateful for the trials in my life,
sometimes I wont show it. but sometimes it takes a while to see the
real Plan that God has.
REO I miss that guy, and I write Reo, Preston, Mark email. every once
in a while. BEAR! tell him I said whuts up;
Feels like the ward is doing great back home. I got to put my pictures
on my flash drive soo, i got to end here. I love you guys!!! Até next
week.
PS. English is a pain... lol (I had to edit a lot this week because his grammar is backwards and twisted around)
Elder Arroyo

Happily Ever After....

FELIZ DIAS DOS PAIS!! Pa Pai! Espero que alguem deu para voce uma
massagem! lol jimbo.
Man, Today is some sort of Holiday, so everything is closed, and it
took us forever to find a Cyber! Finally found this one, and the
keyboard is awful. ha, and there is a kid playin PlayStation 3 on the
other side of me. Homesick.. :P
This week went by supppper fast. It was pretty intense, a family that
I have been teaching since I got here got married on Friday.

Happily Ever After...

We have been planning it for a month now. It went great... It was to start at 7 at night.. but were in the amazon, so of course its going

to pour down rain from 6;30 to 7;30.. SO much rain. it was in the chapel so all the guests stayed dry. As for me ha, The car with the cake showed up, and everyone was like Elder Arroyo go get the cake, were all wearing our good clothes! Im like what the heck am i wearing? lol, So I ended up runnin out with buckets of rain pouring on me and got the 600 pound cake out of the back of a car, and ran back in. And when I sat in on table I looked at my shirt and there was chocolate all over the front. ha, But it was all good. Everyone got a good laugh. And the wedding went great. The bride got baptized Saturday,and confirmed Sunday. . 

I love the feeling of completing families.

Yesterday, we went to a birthday party ha, (slackers, i know :P) and
at their house they had a huuuuuuge parrot. It wasnt even called a
parrot, but it was light blue,green, and huuuuge! you just have to see
it, It looked like a pterodactyl ha.  Im going to go back there with my
camera just to show it to you guys.
But yea, nothin realllllllly different. Everything is the same.
Transfers is in 2 weeks. Tomorrow is zone conference, Maybe ill have a
letter!! OR somethin! Im doin great. Gaining a lot of patience.
Eu sei que a igreja a verdadiera. Que O livro de Mórmon é a palavra de
Deus. Sei que Familias podem ser eternas. sei que eu estou aqui para
ajudar as familias saber a proposito deles aqui no mundo. E tambem
batisar eles :P. Sou muito grato por voces mae pai, porque voces sao
grande examplos para mim. Continua assim ajudando Justin Preparar para
fazer a mesmo coisa que eu e Jimmy estao fazando. Amo voces, e estou
fazando a obra do Senhor. Bra´cos por tudo mundo! Até mias!
ELDER ARROYO

After a good ol game of volleyball

But as for me, im doing great.

Road I walk everyday

WOO! One more week! Man they are going by sooooo fast! I have this
piece of paper that I taped to the front of my desk. Its called 20
passes. Our presidente made them for us. And you start a new one every
month. But its 20 things that you need to do every day, to be a
successful missionary. Its great, And Im an obedient freak, so I get
stressed out sometimes over this thing. But the days just go by so fast.

Everyone has a well in the house.

On tuesday the Bishops mom died. And we went to her funeral at the
church that night. It was my first funeral to ever attend. SO I didnt
really know what was going to happen or anything. But I helped bring in the casket. (I dont remember how to say it, the box they put the
passed away person in) And yea, my first time to see a dead person. It
wasnt as weird as I thought. It was actually very peaceful. She gave a
talk that Sunday, and then it just happened so fast. They said she died
singing a hymn. But yea, first funeral.
It was a great opportunity to think about the Plan of Salvation. And
to just go around talking with the people about The Plan God has for
us.
But yea, Lets change the mood here with another Spider Story!! :[
yall are prolly sick of them by now, but i need to remember them. So I
wake up get out of my hammock, pray, exercises, the normal routine
right. Then straight to the bathroom like always. So I go in there and
start up the shower, everything is going perfect, singing a church
hymn. Then my attention is turned to the door, which is dark brown. I
see something barely move.. Man, I couldnt even scream I almost passed
out right there in the shower. Enormously huge spider on the door,
just camouflaged...!! It was super dark brown. Looked just like the
door. The bathrooms here are super small, and its not like the states.
There is no tub or shower door. You just turn on the shower head, and
its just like taking a shower beside your sink and toilet. And thedoor is right there. It took me like an hour to leave the bathroom.
But yea, Our house is not safe anymore after seeing that. This is why
I sleep in my hammock. Its more difficult for them to get to you.
As well the other day, I opened the door to come into the house, and
there was another huge spider on the ground. Theyre everywhere!! Ill
send a pic. I got my name tag crazily close to it, And took a video of

how I did it ha.

SPIDER!!!!

The life, its only two years haha. then all the spiders will go away!

But as for me, im doing great. health great, mission great. This morning I was walking to the back of the house, and as I passed my bed whap! I stubbed my pinky toe hardcore on the side. It hurts so bad, The words that came out of my mouth werent portuguese or english.
haha. Im working a lot with the members. Were planning a wedding thisfriday in the church, and theyll be baptised this saturday! Fingers crossed! But im doing great.
Hows the fam back home? school is back! Justin is def going to have a
great year com miss Hillman! Tell her I said hey, and sorry for any of
my past transgressions haha. :) Tell Destinee to send me her
schedule. Who is next to leave for the mission? And come home? Hope
everything is going great back home. And love you guys a lot.
Tchau
Elder Arroyo

I felt like Alma teaching multitudes of people

Nothing better to start off your day.
Terere, this is cuia from southern Brasil.

Olá mom. Good Morning. So this week went by pretty fast! Its already
August!! This is just nuts for me! Months go past like days! Im doing
just fine here. I got pretty sick, not now im back on my feet! And
talking with everyone! This week we had a good bit of novos. I
remember we went to a house (which was a contact the week earlier) and
I talked with a senhora in the front of her house, and asked her if we
could come in and share a message with her and her family. Of course
she said yes, who can turn me down :D. So we went in there, and I told
her to gather everyone in the house to hear this message. Man, There
ended up being 9 people. Not even enough chairs for us to sit down. I
felt so good. The spirit just filled me up with joy teaching this
many people in one visit. I felt like Alma teaching multitudes of
people. and another day the same thing happened.

Jaka, third love in my life (it's a fruit)

Ive been told I have a great personality out here. Always happy, and just goofy. ha. There is a neighbor we have, and she has a son that a lot of missionaries that have passed here have been teaching. But no one has had the go to baptise him. I got him to come to church with us yesterday! and I passed by last night, to talk with him about baptism,
But he wasnt there. So I talked with his mom. And she told me that Im
different than the other missionaries that passed through here. That
her son is always talking about me. I know he will be ready to be
baptised this saturday. Im not saying this to brag. But im sharing
this, so that we can all take a step back, and look at our selves. Are
we being examples? Are we smiling at all times. Helping others? Just
saying hey to someone or giving a hug, can change a life. I never
leave the house with bad feelings. We pray every time we leave the
house to be examples in the road. And to be happy, helping others feel
our joy. Im telling you, that this will bring people to church.

Weve had some more people pop up to be baptised. just came from
nowhere. Already great to talk with everyone, to see if they know
anyone that has been in the church that isnt a member. If you ask
everyone, then someone will pop up.
The leadership is going great. Im learning more and more everyday. Its
not easy, But im learning sooooo, much. Were working more with the
members and im going to start teaching english in the church on
saturdays. See if that will bring people into the church. Chris an
english teacher??? haha i know right?
But other than that the Lord is giving me the strength to reach points
that I thought I could never reach before.
Thats great that people are talking about me ha, hope its oly coisas
good. Im going to give all I have too this week, to make up for my
sickness last week. I know I can baptise every week. Just need to work
hard, and dominate my goals!
I know the church is true, that Christ lives. That were all here to
make a difference. The greatest place to start, is to be an example.
Love all you guys, have a great week.
Elder Arroyo

I know the Lord is helping me so much

The Package is great mom! Im loving it! And tambem my
comp ha. He got a package at the same time, So Everything is all good.
The photos are great, ha! Lots of memories! I was soooooo big ha. Its
funny to show the pictures to the members And they love to see how
the states look, and family pics. The letters were also good! Thanks
to everyone in the fam! So much cheese haha. (good thing)
So right now, im not so happy. Cause well, I got sick again. Its getting old..
But on the bright side, im still District Leader! :D LOTS of work! and
responsibility. My district is great. Theyre opening their area just
fine. Sometimes I get kind of stressed out, cause I pretty much do all
the work in the comp ship. and I have a District to run as well. But I
just remember the stress Nephi felt when he was in the desert with his
family. And they didnt even have any food. Everyone was all stressed
out, and just chewin each other up, Nephis bow broke, well yall know
the story. When he was just about to break down. He went to his
Father, to ask what and where he needed to go. I have all of my
confidence in the Lord. Im pretty much leaning on Him with all my
weight. I would definitely have broken down this week,With all my
sufferings. I know the Lord is helping me so much. Thats everything im
doing out here, wouldnt be possible without him.
My new comp is Elder Genaro. He has 4 months in the mission. Hes still
got a lot to learn.. But I know exactly how it is starting out.
Hopefully the Lord will help his faith. Hes from the outskirts of Sao
Paulo. 
tell jimmy! Thanks a bunch for the binder! ha. Its helping alot, and I
have lots of stuff to put in it for Justin.
I dont know what else to write, My mind is blank with the sickness.
Sorry, if this letter is lame. But ill end it here. PRAY FOR ME A LOT! por favor.
Give everyone a hug for me. Love you guys! 
Elder Arroyo

I got called to be District Leader here in Laranjeira

MOM! Sooo much!  So I just got off the bus like 5 seconds ago
from Belém. And jumped in this cyber to do our emails! im starving...
lol. Ive been there all day. But yea, I have a huge package next to me
haha.!! Finally! :D Thanks so much! I dont even know whats in it yet.
Better be good! ha. Because I had to go to the post office in Belém to
get it out of prison! i had to pay 95 reals. I dont know if it was
because of something inside, or the shipping. But im back now haa. I
love it up there in Belem. The streets are so amazingly beautiful. i
took some pics, But I dont have my cord with me. And the package was
super heavy! ha, but not complaining atttttt allllll. Muito obrigado!
SO TRANSFERS!! The zone leaders called me last night (I call them the
zone Lords ha) And told me to call President. I was like, im getting
called for sure. So yea! I got called to be District Leader here
in Laranjeira. And my comp is getting transferred. And im getting a
comp that is pretty new in the mission. IM SOOOO PUMPEDDD! Ive been
waiting to be called! Everyone is pretty excited for me. Just love
everyone, and lead by example. I dont know much about my district
right now, cause i havnt met them yet. Ill tell ya about them next
week.
But the work is still booming here! We had another baptism this
saturday! We just need to keep up our faith, and agora its not just my
faith but of my district as well. Need to keep them baptising weekly
juntos with me. So I can get called Zone Lord! :D I know the Lord is
preparing my way, not only here. But after the mission.
Its still hot.. hah. duh. AÇAI season is back!! We eat it at lunch
a lot. !!! YES! ha, im so excited lol. Everyones teeth are blue, and
everyone is more happy ha. The other day, they taught me how to eat it
without sugar. You just eat it next to your lunch plate, and eat it
with chicken, or shrimp. And its DELicous! Im just super happy right
now, and sweating hardcore.
I might take money out of my card. I dont want to though. I think ill
be able to live on what I have. Thats crazy that school is already
starting back! It went by super fast! Jonos getting married in April!
Whhhaaaaattt?? Sweet? When does Sister Bowden go home?
hows the work goin? Keep me in your prayers every night. Not only me,
but my district, and the people. I love you guys so much! Keep the
commandments! And youll prosper in the land! Jesus is the Christ.
Elder Arroyo

I know that the Lord is preparing this land

Hey mom! Good morning! HA! Pleeeeeeeeeeeassse, I promise you guys
right now, that it is not even close to how hot it is here. not even
comparable haha. The sun stays at the stop of the sky. I remember the
other day I walked into the bishops office cause there is an air
conditioner in there. And I just sat there to relax for a sec. And
~when I walked back out the door. I almost cried, from the heat wave
ha. For realz.
This week was great. Another Saturday, another baptism. Ive been
walking like no tomorrow. Im going to weigh myself again today. And
see where im at. I heard that the trip went great. I miss the Larsen´s
party. And...pools.. But its ok. Cause I love Pará! And im putting all
my time to the Lord. And the time here is just going by so fast.
Yea, Was my Hump Day last week. But no, I didnt do anything. Just
another day. Your days get complicated when your preparing people to
be baptised in 2 weeks.

Victor's Baptism

The other day, we were lunching at a members house for the first time.
And I was talking to there daughter about church stuff. And dont you
know she told me she hasnt been baptised yet!! haha! Man! Ive seen her
at the church every week. A lot of people thought she was already a
member. ha. So now we are preparing her to be baptised this Saturday.
We are really pushing to reach our goal for the mission this month.
which is 250 baptisms. I know the Lord will show the way.
So we had interviews with president last week. And guess what!! The
church bought a huuuge lot of land in Belém. We think we have a pretty
good idea of what this land was bought for. Our number one goal here
is to bring a temple into Pará! And the church is growing like no
other here. Miracles are happening everyday. I know that the Lord is
preparing this land for a temple in Northern Brasil.
Pará! Im loving this place so much. I cant stop talking about the
fruit here. Everyone has trees of fruit in their yards. So the other
day. we were sitting at a members house waiting for her to finish
making lunch, and I saw a lemon tree in the front yard. And I made
some lemonade for us for lunch ha. Thats my new thing ha. Making
juice of whatever they have in the yard ha. And It tastes amazing.
Just have to look out for whatever lives in the trees ha. yea.. Ill
tell you after the mission.
Ah! If you see Brian again! Tell him I miss that guy so much, and when
I come back we´ll def jam out again.
But thats a little of what happened with my week! Still waiting for
your package! I know its coming this time :D Love you mom! Tchau
ELDER Arroz

This is an Açaí Palm!

This is an Açaí Palm!

Good Morning mom! Happy 4th of July! haha, Yea, that means nothing
down here. This week was great. The Lord is showing his hand in our
work everyday, and we are getting results. We had another Baptism this
week, It went great. She was totally prepared! And guess what, we will baptise her son this Saturday. And maybe her daughter the next.

Ah! So this church down here ´Assembleia De Deus` or something like that (jimmy knows) they did a thing where they were marrying a couple
hundred people for FREE! Man! When I heard about that, I went nuts
haha. So we took a family and they got married! It went great, And they will be legally married today. so theyll be ready to be baptised
this week!! And we are going to marry another one of our families this
week. ha, It was funny. We walked into there church with our invesitigators, and everyone was just staring at us lol. But yea! FAMILYS!! Its soo hard to find familys that are married. We have been teaching these families for a while, and the main problem is the money. But now theyll be good to go! A lot of work! Finally some results :D
We did some service projects! I love service projects sooo much. ha,
Because I get to use shorts and a shirt. But my legs are sooo white ha.. Ill see if I can send you guys some pictures.

another spider!

Sounds like a good swim and a bbq would hit the spot right about now.
Maybe ill be home for the next 4th of July. If you want to know where I am. I usually walk the streets in Icui. and thats where the church is. Im doing fine. Working hard. Keeping the commandments ha. Hope everything is great at home. Love you guys!
Tchau Thcua
Elder Arroyo