Andy's birthday and lots more pics!

Oi meus queridos! Eu amo vocês tanto!

Thank you so very much for the Birthday wishes! I love you guys and my conpanion tons! Even though Im quite far away from you guys I have felt your love and that much closer to
home for my birthday. It was very strange to have a birthday away from home the first time
and not go through the usual cake routine, but here they have a another sort of routine slash tradition instead of a cake. Aparentaly its tradition to crack however many years you have worth of eggs on your head! haha Luckily I didnt have the opportunity to pass through that tradition since my birthday was on a sunday and nobody had eggs. We didnt do anything real special yesterday but I did recieve a lot of ``parabens!``from the members and we are going to do something special today. MY companion is make barbeque ribs for me! Can you believe it! Good ol barbeque american style well as close as we can get to American style ribs here in Brasil! Its going to be scrumptious....i hope...I will upload photos next week...and speaking of photos ive tried to upload well make up for a months worth of not uploading photos so I dont have much time to write today. Melissa our latest baptism is growing in the Gospel incredibly. We are starting to work more her mom now and she is really enjoying the activities of the church and the messages we have shared. we have high hopes. I love you guys again! Have a great Week!

Elder Andy M. Howell

Baptism in Joao Pessoa and more pics!

Opa! Tudo Jòia Todo Mundo! Que Notícia Legal!

Well this past week was super great because we had a very special baptism of a woman we have been teaching named Melissa. She is a young single mom who has two little boys named Ruan and Bruno. Ruan is 8 years old and loves to swim and play videogames. Bruno is only one and a half years old, he is the cutest little guy ever, loves to run around like a crazy little monkey like the micos here. I find it really hard to believe how her former boyfriend could leave them behind...ANyways her baptism was very sweet and full of the spirit...I really love our ward here as they welcome each new recent convert like a new family member. We have been accompanying/walking with Melissa and Bruno to church these past few Sundays. It takes about a half an hour or more becuase little Bruno walks a snail pace and little curbs and steps on the way are like hills and mountains to him. its so funny to watch him jump and climb the steps. haha  Most of Melissa´s family attended her baptism. They said they had a really good time. The rest of her family are not members and one of her brothers who lives with her along with her mom in her apartment has a problem with drinking and we are really trying to help him stop. He particulary said that when he was in the church he almost started crying becuase of the feeling of peace he felt in there. I know that the Holy Ghost dwells inside the Lord´s houses and is a unique feeling that can only be justified if you have really felt it for yourself and it can bring a person to change thier life for the better. We are praying for Maçelo and are trying all we can to help him. So with transfer about...Nobody was transfered in our apartment! I will be contueing to serve with Elder O Moura! Meu Vovô! haha in Castelo Branco, White Castle! SO Ive just uploaded a ton of photos! Last p-day we did an awesome visit to the Farol at Cabo Branco which is like the farthest point out into the Atlantic on land! I will upload those photos next week! Love you all! Have a great week! Super Excited for Derek and Tanner!!!!

Lots and Lots of Great Pics!

Antonio!!! My first baptism, looking sharp and lookin like a priesthood holder of Heavenly Father. 

He bought a tie and dress shirt all by himself he said.  It was so awesome to see him pass the sacrament. 

At 13 years old, he is getting himself up and going to church all by himself...I miss this lil guy very much...

This was a transfer P-day (Wed.) and so while we were waiting for our new comps back in Mossoro, we were at another missionary household, which has a backyard with a coconut tree!!  So we thought we would grab some and have some coconut juice!  Was really fun and yummy.  I'm with Elder Wright and Elder Stock, who is from Spokane, WA.

The same backyard where Elder Wright, Stock and I grabbed some coconuts.

But I got a goofy hat on if you didn't notice, which I borrowed from Elder Alexandre.

Up in the coconut tree.

Caio (left) and Fabio (right) here with Elder Kitchen and I in Mossoro. 

Caio is quite the crazy dude and is obsessed with Lincoln Park.  he is an awesome funny kid and was fun to teach.  He was very interested in what a missionary's life is like.  His cousin, Fabio, also a pretty crazy dude, started to go to church with us and they were really enjoying church they said.  Sadly, I was transferred, so I don't know if they ever got baptized...

This is a church I used to pass by every week to get to district meetings in the center of Mossoro.

This church really stands out because it's big and yellow.

A lunch at Gilvan's house.

Elder Wright, me, Jefferson (Sec. of the Bishop - not the one I baptized), Rafael,

who was baptized by Wright and Jay, Elder Kitchen, Paulo, Julia.

Neide sitting down, Bilvan's wife and Edveston.

"Honda Motos...making missionary work look good..."

No, I think it's better this way...

"Elder M. Howell...making Honda Motos look good..." haha

I was walking by a Honda Motorcycle dealership and an agent came running up to me and asked if I could pose...

Nah, this "moto" belongs to one of the members and he let me take a pic with it outside the church, because I think I'm inspired to buy a motorcycle when I get back.

In Mossoro, BTW.

This looks really sketchy I know, but it's legal and its healthy.  It's an all natural herbal drink called Chimarrao and it's a traditional drink from Rio Grande de Sul.  It's a drink really from the southern part of Brazil, in Jeff Walton's area.  It's usually taken hot because down there it actually gets cold.  So it was quite the treat to try it at a Gaucho (Southerner) member's house in Mossoro.  We drank it cold and with juice because it's super hot in Mossoro.

Close-up on Chimarrao! 

Looks super nasty, is what you're thinking...but I liked it, because I like gross things, right?

Transferred to Joao Pessoa.....

We got a lil' lost on our way to lunch...JK.

This is is what we call "The Secret Trail of Narnia" and Elder O. Moura knew exactly where we were.  This trail is close to our apartment, we have to cut through this forest to get to some member's houses for lunch and if we didn't use the trail it would take an hour to get there.  It's quite the adventure.  As you can see one part is walking over this pipe that extends over a lil' stream and a river.  It's pretty long too...I'll have to get more pics of this trail.  It's awesome.  There are monkeys in this forest!  No joke.  They are really little ones that look like squirrels.

This is a giant fallen down tree next to our apartment building.

(Joao Pessoa)

Elder O. Moura and I eating the most delicious tasty treat of Brazil called Asai!  It's a lil' fruit of the Amazons which is primarily used for making this tasty frozen treat.  I've never actually seen the berry itself.  So here we have the Asai at the base with granola and bananas and sweet condensed milk topping.  It's so good!  Mossoro didn't really have any so I was super happy to hear we had a shop pretty close by our apartment!  The last time before Mossoro I had some was at the President's house.

Fear of men?

OI! Tudo bem com vocês!?

Well...last week I said that I would upload a lot more photos if my lost bag was delivered to me becuase that lost bag contains my little uploading device... Well...IT WAS delivered to me! I recieved my bag that I left in another city called Assu which is like an hour from Mossoró in a taxi last week in our usual district meeting. The Presidente of the mission himself handed me my bag!!! haha I knew the Presidente loved me but not enough to deliver something of mine personally...haha I know he didnt come to our meeting to just hand me my bag. I was told he does some surprise visits to district meetings that are reasonably close to his house, like ours, which happens to be the closest to his apartment. SO my companhiero was assigned to give the training for this meeting and just his luck the President decided to sit in on our meeting...Elder O. Moura my comp. decided to give a training on what things can distract us from feeling the spirit or following it...or  achieving a goal or seeing whats really important in life to really progress and have success. We noted that fear was one of the top things that deprives missionaries from opening their mouths becuase we are afraid of what some people will say or think of us. That shouldnt deprive us from opening our mouths at all as we have something that we know everybody needs...I ask myself a lot if I fear men more than I fear God...I hate to admit it, but recently i have to be honest that i have had more fear of men becuase i have been doubting my Portugues and so i feel embarrassed to talk to people sometimes.So i pray everyday for more courage and to have more self confidence to change that fact...It was a really good training and the presence of the president just happened to make it a little bit more of a special and spiritual meeting. i simply want to state and challenge you guys to whenever you have a missionary moment dont be shy like I have been. Pray for the courage to stand for whats right when the truth needs to be defended, be a shining light so bright that others notice that there is something different about you, but it is nothing different to be ashamed off, it is something touches lives, changes them for the better... Anyways I forgot my little device so I will try to upload photos next week!  I dont have any doubt what so ever that Jesus Christ lives and is our Savior and that He knows each and every one of us personally and that He taught and left us His True Gospel,  which can bring everlasting happiness and comfort and direction in life and was restored by Joseph Smith, who was a young boy with a pure heart who later suffered so much redicule and humilation...but he endured through all that becuase he knew he was called of God to bring back the Truth to this world and he could never deny what he saw, because he knew that God knew what he saw. I love you all, Have a splendid week! Elder M. Howell