Andy's "bestest" week of his mission!

Oi Todo mundo!!!!

I just had like the bestest week of my mission! I am truly so grateful for the great example some people have unto others and for the help of the ward here! This past sunday we held one of the best baptismal meetings and two very special baptisms. We baptized Ivy´s sister Larissa and her boyfriend Iraíldo. Larissa has 23 years and Iraíldo has 25 and they both have unique experiences I would love to tell you guys but I dont have time to tell right now... ahhh you guys must hate me right now. But we were misinformed about what time to pass the internet today so we dont have as much time as usual but i promise i will tell the details on monday! OH YEAH so im super happy that the transfer has passed and Im staying here for another in Campina Grande! IM super happy  i will be able to teach Iraildo and Larissa more and to see them confirmed members on Sunday! So the only unfortunate news is that one of my bestest buddies in the house was transfered elder Ricardo but he was long overdue is passed almost 9 months here. He was transfered to Joao pessoa, but on the good side is that Im living with aother american! woohoo! I havnt since Mossorò! Elder Clawson on my group is here! He is such a cool guy! Great missionary, good example to have in the house! Well, I hope you guys enjoy the pictures as much as i enjoyed this past sunday, i think that will be impossible though because it was just so great! My little thought slash message is just the importance of being a good example to others even though sometimes you think it wont make a difference it is in the little things people notice and will start to ponder. I know thats what happened with Larissa and Iraildo as they noticed a change in Ivy. I love you guys and have a great week!

Abraço, Elder M. Howell

The Sisters in the ward sang Sisters in Zion

Beauty!  I taught him how to fix a tie!

Iraildo and me!  I took a shirt and basketball tie for him

because he likes basketball very much!

Symbol of Baptism!  Elder M. Howell and G. Olveira 2012!

Our T-Shirts!  Elder G. Oliveira made these shirts for us

with the ink we use to paint and renovate our house!

Andy turns in to a carpenter...lots of pics!

 Ola tudo jòia com todo mundo!?

This week was crazy! and not becuase of Carnival surprisingly...Here in Campina Grande Carnival doesnt exist...bummer right jk it is a blessing for us missionaries here so we have more time to work without madness going on and usually the missionaries are demanded to arrive home a lot early than usual. The only problem is that everybody here travels to João Pessoa to celebrate so there was practically no one home and in the street to talk to. BUT on the bright side! This week we marked an unexpected batism with a man named Iraíldo who is the boyfriend of Ivy! Last wednesday I did a division with Elder Pollo who is a missionary of power!!! He is my district leader and is sadly ending his mission this transfer. THis division we did was by far the best division i have done. It is amazing how well Elder Pollo teaches and how he leads with people. The time shows in him. He is a very experieced missionary. We had a very spiritual lesson with Iraildo and Ivy at her house wednesday night. Iraildo got to know other missionaries before us but he never had the time to receive the lessons until this year recently. After the baptism of Ivy he noticed a big change in her that she was a lot happier with everything and he passed a huge exam that rewarded him with a highly paid job. Lots of good things started to happen for him and he believes that these blessings are not just by chance. He shared with us that he needs to thank Our Heavenly Father for this things and that with the Book of Mormon and the message of the Restoration everythings just makes sense. When we said baptism is one way he could start a path to thank GOd for the rest of his life and recieve even more blessings he accepted right in the moment with a smile that he wants to be baptized and bore testimony of the Book of Mormon! It was one of the best moments of my Mission how firm he was with his response. Man...with time running out already i just want to let you guys know there is not greater happiness in this work than seeing someone realize how important the Gospel is and how much joy it can bring. As this transfer is ending im really wanting to stay here as i have other really good freinds i want to see the glow in thier eyes as well! One scripute is ALma 53: 20 one of my favorties!!! I hope everything is Tudo bem. Love you all lots! have a great week! Love. Elder M. Howell

We started a service project in our house.  Our house is pretty beat up!

Acai for lunch!

I'm in Babylon!

Old Dam, Campina Grande

Lunch with Ivy and Iraildo

Elder Pollo and I! 

A division that we did on Wednesday last. 

 Elder Pollo is finishing the mission in this transfer February 29. 

 It's good!  Too cool!  He is my District Leader!

Elder Wilson and Me!

Andy celebrates his one year anniversary!

È aí meus amigos lá na America do Norte! Todo mundo está tudo OK? Eu estou de boa!
Eu peço por perdâo pela falta do meu email...

Hello! Hello! Hows everybody doing? Please excuse me for my absence last week. I really dont have an excuse to justify my actions, please forgive me. I will try to make up for it in this email. So as of the last week and the week before it were all fine and dandy. Last last week was super as partied it up a little ,as much as a missionary can party, to celebrate my 1 year aniversary in the mission. I ate sopa de Cabeça de galo or Chicken head soup to celebrate! Yeah thats right! its sooooo good! haha well i forgot to mention in my skype phone call during Christmas that i have a Brazilian grandpa named Alexandre...yup...haha he kinda looks like my grandpa Deloy Howell but what kills me is that he tells stories in the same fashion and i just die laughing in my head and sometimes out loud thinking how cool it is hearing stories that remind me of my Grandpa in Portugués! When i laugh out load ALexandre looks at me like Im crazy at parts when there is nothing to laugh about. Alexandre loves us missionaries and took us out to eat breifly for dinner some of this delicious soup! ahhh well i have to break it to ya that its not actually chicken head really but its really called Cabeça de Galo and its just a normal Chicken soup, but its seriously good! Unforntunatly Alexandre is not a member as his wife is and his daughter who are the sweetest people, especially his wife Irmã Lourdes. Alexandre is born and raised from the center of São Paulo and was raised Catholic. Another thing we did to celebrate was Açaí with our best buddy Leka who is another super fan of us. We celebrated a little bit of Christmas with him eating Açai with santa claus hats on. We took a pic of us and gave it to him as a present. He gives discounts to us missionaries. He is the man. He is the most loving and open guy and just loves to talk and meet new people. Well thats pretty much what i did outside the house to celbrate last week besides burning a shirt as its tradition. I didnt want to burn an actual shirt so yet again i made a shirt out of paper! That was fun. This was super too as we had interviews with Presidente Hall and recieved some training from Sister Hall on how to plan our days better. My interview with the presidente was like always just such a pleasure. I love talking to this inspired man of God. He just beams happiness and has so much spirituality. He shared a couple things with me to better my work in the field. He shared with me this chapter of Alma 26 and how Elder Bednard asked him what is the message we can get from this chapter. Presidente Hall responded that is it that we can change the lives of many...Elder Bednard responded``that is true but that the real message here is that we should always give our best in everything that we do especially to the Lord. I always read this chapter now for inspiration if im feeling a little down. We have two wonderful families we are working with lately. A young couple Wiliam and Catarina who was a reference from a Irmâo Ednaldo and Neves a young mom of two cool teenagers Maria and Artur. We will be visiting them this week a lot to see how they are doing. Well Im super happy for Derek and for Natalie Lambert. That is the bees knees that they are both going to serve here in one the most amazing countries! They will have the time of their lives here! I hope everything is sweel back home in the good old red white in blue. As amazing as it is here i have to say that i do miss home a lot. But i know that im in the right place doing the right thing! I wish you all a great week! Abraço, Elder M. Howell