Exciting Transfer News!!

Hey!

How are you all doing? I hope that things are well, it sounds like y'all have had some fun. I have too. It was a good week and it passed by really quickly! We ate like 3 churrascos!! I am getting sooo fat! E Matos left yesterday, he was really happy. He was a good guy and I will miss him for sure!

This week some dude asked me if I was a spy and recording information to send to the US. I was really tempted to play along, but I said no. He didn't believe me and didn't accept our message either. We didn't teach a lot this week because Elder Matos was saying goodbye to everyone.

We got the transfer info, I am staying here and I don't know who my comp is because I will be a trainer. I have to go to Santa Maria tomorrow and find my comp. I am pretty excited and nervous. It should be good though. Also, I get to eat pizza in Presidents house, but that means that I have to sleep in the garage again.  :(

Also the weather has been pretty cold lately. It is the worst because nobody has heating here, so you go into a house and it is almost as cold as it was outside, basically you are just in the cold all day. It feels like Christmas. I have been singing Christmas songs alllllllllllll week! We deep cleaned the house today, it was nasty. But now the place is sparkling!

Also I don't know if you got to watch the world wide training yesterday, but it was super good. I saw people and places that I recognized when they showed the video it had parts of the Brasil CTM and Sao Paulo Temple. It was cool!

I am excited to work and I think that we are going to have some success here in Ijuí! I hope that you are all enjoying your summer and having a blast! I love you guys a lot and hope that you have the best week ever!

Good luck to mace and dad in Lake Powell, Mason told me that I was like Elder Vanpelt (The Best Two Years) when his family bought a houseboat and went to Lake Powell! "it´s trunking me out of my mind!!!!" but not really, (only a little bit). Have fun though.

Hahahahah, I love you guys and have fun!!!

Love,

Elder Stringer

Soccer and a Talk in Church

Hey!

How is everybody? I am doing well, Elder Matos is going home next week and he is very excited. I gave a talk yesterday in church, it was about missionary work and charity. I was really happy with how it turned out and I think that everyone understood too! I am really excited to hear that the new Superman movie is good! One more movie to add to the list! So transfers are next week and it is pretty much 100% that I am staying here, but I will email you guys and let you know who my companion will be.

The Confed Cup is going on right now and I have never faced a bigger temptation in my life than to sit down and watch a game. It is pretty tough to teach people, especially when Brasil is playing. I can't believe that I am in Brasil for the Confed Cup and the World Cup and I can't watch tv! Woe is me! It really kind of bites sometimes. BUT, its all good, I will get over it... eventually.

I pretty much have the whole area down by now. which is good. Also we are teaching quite a bit of lessons and I have been making a lot of contacts, but the only results that we are seeing are numbers. Nothing of real significance unfortunately. We will keep going though, this week we have some promising appointments that will hopefully turn into some real progress.

Also, it would be cool if y'all sent me some pics of all the good times that you have been having. I can put them on my pen drive and get them developed here. Also I haven't seen any wedding pics and kdog has been married for over a month!

I have been doing a lot of pondering and meditating over the past week and I decided... that I would rather have San Antonio win than Miami. It was not an easy decision to make and it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth to write it. Lets just say that of all of the NBA finals to miss, I think that I picked a good one.

I love you guys tons and hope that you all have an awesome week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Stringer

Hello!

Hello!

Sounds like y'all had a great week! I am jealous of Ash and John and wish I could go to Cali and watch a ball game. This week was good, it passed by really quick and I don't remember much of what happened. I am in Cruz Alta for yesterday and today with another elder because elder Matos went to take an English test in Santa Maria. Its been cool, it is the same area that Elder Heleno passed through a year and a half ago. We went to a members house and it was one of his converts so it was really cool to talk to them.

President Ribeiro is going around saying goodbye to everyone and giving his last training about goals. He passed through Ijui on Saturday, it was really good and I am going to miss him and sister. The work is still pretty slow here, and we are having a hard time finding good investigators. I am excited to get the package that you sent though, it should be sweet!

It sounds like stake conference was good! That is very cool. I hope that dad is feeling better, I will pray for him. I am almost out of words to say. oh yeah, the ward here got new counselors in the bishopric and I think that it will be really good. They put a couple of young guys in who are excited to help, it should be really good for the ward.

I am jealous that you will enjoy Strawberry Days without me, I dedicate this movie quote to Strawberry Days:

 "... and strawberries, do you remember the taste of strawberries, master frodo?"

"no sam, I can't recall the taste of food, or the sound of the crick, or the grass in my toes..."

More or less like that.

I think that I will by a strawberry flavored beverage this week, I can't stop thinking about strawberries. I can't believe that the NBA season is still going too. It is really long. I am torn, because the Spurs are lame and so are the Heat. I think that I am glad that I missed this one. Well, my time is running short and I will write a better email next week. I love you guys a lot and hope that you all have an awesome week!!!

Love,

Elder Stringer

Churrasco!

Hey!!

Haha, so I just learned that Kayc and Preston live in a RETIREMENT HOME!!!... in POCATELLO!!! I will be laughing all week!! haha! No, but in all seriousness, I would do it too, if I got free rent, that is actually a super good deal! I bet it was Preston who negotiated this one, right! He gets all of the hookups.

As far as my week goes it was pretty good, I ate churrasco twice! I also did 2 heavy duty service projects! My back has been giving me some problems lately, but I can fix them by laying in bed during study time! Hahaha, just kidding. I also did two splits with other elders this week, it was good, I had a good time. Elder Matos is surviving, he's still working.

That is about all that happened that I can remember at least. We gave a training in priesthood about the Book of Mormon. It went pretty well and hopefully it can help the ward help us. Haha, also we visited a lot of less and inactives on Saturday. The attendance went up substantially on Sunday. That was probably the high point of the week. Lets see if we can keep it going. Other than that nothing else is different, I am glad that today is pday! I can get some sleep and what not.

I love you guys a lot and hopefully next week I can send a better email!!!

Love,

Elder Stringer

Family!!!

Hey!!!

What's going on my friends?! Sounds like cool stuff is going on there in the states. I am just plugging along, same ol same ol. Elder Matos is doing alright, but he is starting to go. It will be interesting to see how the last week will be. Haha,  Here is the address:

Caixa Postal 1031-Centro

Ijuí-RS

CEP: 98700-000

I think that if you send packages it should go to the mission home though. It sounds like you are all doing cool stuff back at home. I am jealous that it is summer break and you guys can sleep in and do whatever you want and be lazy all day. Oh, those were the good ol days. But I am happy here, I just miss being lazy a little bit. But I can't be lazy. Hopefully this helps me be more motivated in my life, I hope that it helps me. Hahahahahaha, I am doing really well though, the lunches here are really good and the members are nice.

We had our last zone conference with Pres. Ribeiro on Thursday. It was super good, we studied the life of Paul. It was really cool, also we watched the best two years! We didn't get to the end though and I am still not sure if he gets baptized or not. I am going to miss Pres and Sister Ribeiro and I wonder what it will be like with the new president. I am sure that it will be great too. 

I don't have a lot to say because things are just normal, so I guess that's it for today! I love you guys lots and hope that you have a whole heap of fun this week, because I will for sure!

Love you!

Elder Stringer

New Transfer, New City

Hey Kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How are you doing? I am doing well here in Ijuí. It is a much bigger city than São Gabriel and the area is bigger too. There are 3 wards here our is Ala Jardim, the bishop is super cool and really good. The ward mission leader is really cool too, He's funny. We stopped by his house the other day and they were having a birthday party for a couple of neighborhood kids and he was sharing the entire story of the restoration as a special message! He wouldn't let them cut the cake until after he finished his message! (the cake was really good).

Elder Matos is really cool! He is from Manaus, which has a new temple now. He is in his last transfer, which means that he is dying and having a bit of trouble working. At the beginning of the year, the secretaries told him that he was going home may 14, so he was all packed and planned and ready to leave. He got a call the week before from president saying that they messed up his date to leave and he had to stay one more. So he already died and he is going to die again and I think that this time will be worse. But he is a really good guy and I like him a lot and I think that this transfer should be interesting.

We don't really have any investigators so we are doing a lot of contacts and door knocking trying to build up a teaching pool. It stinks.

The weather is getting cold (4 C) and our shower here is terrible! It gets just lukewarm enough to not kill you if you stay in for 4 minutes! It is going to be a rough winter here.

There are going to be a lot of sisters coming in and they say that they will probably start making sister only districts and have sister zoneleaders, dls and aps. It should be interesting, I think that we are getting ten new sisters next transfer. Hope that it all works out.

I forgot to get the address of the mail box here, sorry. I will try to remember next time! It is super cool that Kayc and Preston went to Fiji, I want to know what it was like and if it was lots of fun or what. It has been real rainy here for the past week, yesterday rained so hard that we had to ford a river that was where a road is supposed to be. I was like a pioneer. We have found some pretty good investigators with potential and I will keep you updated. The mission goal for the month of June is 160 baptisms, one for each missionary. I think that it is possible but it will be really hard. June is President Ribeiros last month, he is really good and I am going to miss him. I hope that the new president is cool. 

I heard that star trek 2 came out, this makes my soul cry a little bit. I hope that you all enjoy it and that it is reeallly good. Because I am going to watch it and a whole mountain of other movies when I get home. And you will all have to watch them with me, whether you like it our not. I am having a good time here, it is hard to wake up at 630, but I am doing it. I am proud to say that everyday for the past 6 months, I have woken up at 630 on the dot!! Ha! Take that! I am tired.

Anyway, I love you guys a ton and hope that you are all very well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Stringer

Hey!

Hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It truly was glorious to talk to y'all yesterday!!! It left me with a terrible bittersweet feeling though. But I am glad that y'alls are good!!!! I am here, waiting for the transfer info, and I don't know what to write...

I will tell a story:

So basically I am Robert Algiers the second. I have a pen that is broken at the end. And I have been using it for a long time and one day, I was using this pen when I reached into my pocket and pulled out another broken pen! Identical!!! I was amazed! Then the other day, I was using a broken pen when I reached into my pocket and pulled out two broken pens!! All three identical!!!!!!! It was crazy! I thought to myself: "I have mastered the transporting man trick! With pens! Who knows, there could be hundreds of broken pens locked in tanks of water, being carried around by old blind people!!!!" Then I realized that I had stolen that pen from a member. I returned it. But it still doesn't explain how the second pen got there.

I am really glad that we followed the rules yesterday and only talked for 30 minutes. I ended up waiting another half hour for the others to finish, but it is really cool that we are being obedient!

Its in! I am going to Ijuí and will be companions with Elder Mattos! Haha, very cool, I will let you guys know more next week! I don't know anything else.

Haha, I love you guys a lot and hope that you have the best week ever!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Stringer