Amazon Float

well im glad that everything in the package made it to you. im glad you liked it to. did everyone open the presents or so you? glad you liked the dvds also. they are pretty cool. that is ALL of my pics in the mission and so now your all caught up. well except for the pics i have taken since then haha. so ya i havnt received any packages yet but no worries i will. so about the river, WOW, it was awesome, like i cant even explain it. it was soo pretty and amazing how the two river waters dont mix for like miles. and they litteraly dont mix. not even a little. it looks like something is seperating them it was way cool. we also got to watch a movie, the cronicals of narnia, it was cool and i saw elder orr. haha. it was a great day yesterday!!! Pics to come!

Mollie Born!

so becca had her baby!!! congrats for her. i was gonna ask about her today haha. i knew it was coming up!!! what day? and i will get to see elder orr and the amazon river. im going to the encounter of waters, its where the two rivers make the amazon river. it will be cool!!! so as we are having sacrament meeting there is a funeral going on in the cultral hall behind us with a dead body there haha. it was VERY distracting, and to top it all of they were using a projecter for sacrament meeting. ahhh, the church here is soo crazy haha.

Dec 2, 2009

this week was cool we had a zone conf. with pres. it was about the BOM. we got burnt on not using the BOM enough. so we will be using it more. haha. we watched some clipps from Elder Hollands talk, wow, i love that talk, it was like my favorite talk i have ever hear in my life. also i found out what pres is gonna do for the christmas conferance. im way excited for this one. ALL the missionaries in the mission (meaning i will see elder orr and elder t davis) are coming here to manaus!!! pres is trying to rent a boat and take us to the encounter of waters. its where the two huge rivers meet and make the Amazon river. one of the rivers is like black and the other brown and so when the waters meet they dont mix for a long time so its like a river with one side black and one side brown. there should be some pics online i imagine. but it is gonna be sooo awesome. im sooo freaking excited to see elder orr and elder t davis again!!!! also we had a baptism this sundya!!! that was way cool. it was the daughter of a less active that we are reactivating!!! her name is Larissa! this last saturday night the electircity was flickering and it ended up burnig our fans, like literaly, our fans cought on fire haha. so we had no fans sat night and then sunday we couldnt buy any so sunday night we died of a heat stroke also. haha. but then monday we went to buy some fans!!! o something else i realized is that NO one else wil have babies before i get home now. its passed the time already!!!! yayay.

Our Prez. is a great guy. i love sister. she is soo innocent it is funny at times. haha. but ya my comp its gettin lots better haha. last week he had an emergency to use the bathroom but we werent at home and the bathroom we were by didnt have toilet paper so he used plastic bags on the floor. haha. poor kid. i remember what it ws like being newer haha. this is his 3rd transfer. he is talking way better then i did with 2 or 3 transfers. he is doing good. i know who those brazilian girls are. they are some less active members in this ward that we are trying to reactivate. they have been going to chruch like 3 or 4 weeks in a row and we baptized their friend a week ago. i pray they get better and stay active. were helping them lots. but if there making my facebook dirty like that you can tell annie to delete them. tell emma happy bday for me. one of our investigators this week got in a fight with his wife and she stabbed him in the leg. its nasty. his leg is alll black and gross now. haha. brazil is messed up ahha. but he wants to be baptised soo much but he cant cause they arnt married so he wants to leave but he has no money to leave so he is in a tough situation. also a family we are teaching is awesome. im loving them. we had a way spirtiual lesson and we talked about baptism and the mom went off saying how she didnt feel like her first baptism was right and how she is looking for the right one. and she started to cry i was, well just teary eyed, i dont cry haha. but it was awesome. i love that family!!!! ya all is great here!! lvoe ya!

we have a mission home. but my area is the furthest away from the mission office. it takes like an hour and a half to get to the mission office so i never go there but i live with the assistants so the always bring my letters and packages!!! yes i got a package this week with spegetti and prego and dille beans and i got the belt a week or two ago. thanks a ton for everything!!!! your the best mom EVER!!! so there is a little boy in my ward witht the name of Hyrum. it is funny how the say it though haha. this week we had zone conf. it was way good. one of the elders that is finishing bore his testimony and talked about how he was a recent convert before his mission and when he decided to go on a mission his dad said no but he went any way. he said he has written his dad every week and his dad has NEVER written him back. how sad is that. he said he never gets letters packages or anything. i felt so bad. but i tihnk of how much faith he must have and how strong of a testomony. a mission is hard enough with family support. i cant imagine how hard it would be with out it. my comp is just sick alot. just like pains in the stomoch. but its normal for americans. also his feet hurt really bad caouse of blisters. so some days we dont even leave the house cause his feet hurt so bad and he cant walk. like the blisters burst and get infected. haha. poor kid. i was reading in alma 17 this week and i loved a scripture i was studing about patience in verse 11. it is totally how with my patience i will be a tool in the lords hand for the lamanites. that is a prophecy that im making part of. cool huh??1!!!! 

im reading jesus the christ and so that is like WOW, AMAZING. haha. im loving it. i read like half the book yesterday alone haha.

well love ya mother. your the best!!!!

New Area

Manaus is good. im enjoying it. the ppl here are alot smarter then in rio branco!! haha. lets see. sunday was testimony sunday and a guy from mexico city was here for buisness and he bore his testomony in spanish and i understood everything. i was like wait i never studied spanish and i didnt know it before the mission. haha. it was weird but cool for sure. its kinda an ugly language but dont tell ryan that. haha. also here in manaus, being in the middle of the amazon jungle has some beautiful rain/thunder stomrs. its amazingly great. the thunder is way loud though haha. and the rain is really HARD and its not even the reain season yet. everyone says in november or december it starts up for real. also for lunch on sunday i ate aligator. it was good. its kindal like chicken. kinda. haha. um my comp is cool. he got a little sick this week but i think he is better now. the roomies are cool. trunky casue they go home next transfer haha. but i love them. um pics...well i forgot my camera in the house today so next week maybe haha. sorry. no the language is about the same. ppl here are smarter so they actually conjugate the verbs corectly haha. um bakc is fine. no worries there. its not hurting at all. that is crazy about brett. is he ok now. i got mine taken our at the beginning of my mission but i never told you casue i didnt want you to get all worried up haha. but it was kinda crazy. i got a cool scare now. haha. jkjk. ive been blessed with health haha. well i apriciate the prayers and pray for you tons to. lov ya

transfers! Trunky... Happy... Sad... oct 2nd

Hippy friend!

well this week was awesome then sad then sad then trunky then awesome agian haha. let me start from the start. CONFERANCE. holy wow it was just great now wasn't it??? i loved it. Elder Hollands talk was just AMAZING huh?? he was like screaming and giving such a strong testimony. i absolutly loved the conf. this last weekend. i also recognize one of the 70. i think his name was Elder Nielson or something like that. i loved his talk about mission work. it was awesome. i think he is the one that helped me pick my mission suit that one day. haha. thats cool. then it got sad cause i found out i was getting transfered. i loved my area in rio bracno and also my comp. so it was way sad to leave there (recent converts members elders comp and etc...) but then it went to sad again when i had to pay 70 reais (35 dollars) on baggage cause mine was to heavy. but then it got trunky. in the airplane coming to manaus. i always thought the next time i would be on a plane would be on the way home haha. so all i could think about is how it would be flying home haha. then it got even trunkier when i got here in manaus and had about 100 letters and a package from you and melissa. haha. but then it got cool again when i got my new comp who is from northern idaho and my new area. im living in the area with the assistants so i will have to stop slacking and work now haha. but im totally lost right now. this city is HUGE and the ward has like ward missionaries and all the leaders and stuff. its weird haha. i havn't had a full ward my whole mission. in my last ward i had to give a talk at least once a month. but now the elders said we never give talks. its great haha. but ya im excited to get to know my area and the ppl here!!!! i got a letter from you chastising me for sending lame emails latly haha. so sorry about that. i will try to get better and my emailing. its just that stuff gets normal to me so ya. anyway sorry. :)

Sept 30.. Life in Brazil

Goodbye Elder Rosa Me, O'Connor, Davis, Millet, Fox, Yuri, Flores, Rosa

Brandon Frisbe, Me, Brandon, Gabriel, Davis, Millet, Fox

Fresh Banana

i saw a snake like two months ago but ppl were killing it. i dont know about transfers yet. it will prob be tuesday.but im cool with staying cause my comp is cool. anyway this week... well last pday we played some frisby and football with a member in our ward and other missionaries. it was WAY fun to do something other then soccer. all the believe in here is soccer. also Adalgisa, our recent convert, bought me a manicure and pedicure. haha. now that was totally weird haha. ya i felt gay but i coulndt tell her no. haha. also i ate some weird food that is like a plant and it is supposably really healthy for ya but it like numbs your mouth. the call it Tacacá or something like that. Another recent convert, the one i sent you a picture of us drinking Açai. well she bought me a new belt cause she said the one i was useing was ugly and it was. haha. we also had a baptism on sunday so that was GREAT!!! :) the Lord is blessing us soo much this transfer!!! this week the grocery store got new ketchup and mustard and its Heinz. its 10 reais for each. its rediculous haha. the others are like 1 reai but ya it was a great week. im LOVING it!!!

More Blessings!

Franciuldo

Silandia Sept 20th

Alexandre Sept 17th

My Apartment

Company:(

Study and Kitchen

Outside my door

Laundry Rm

Bathroom

Bedroom

Sept 22.. Loads of Work!

well hello. haha. this week was great. and i dont walk like a brazilian and never will. im tall white and handsom haha. jkjk. but ya this week was good. we are teaching a man with 25 years and he will be baptized this sun or next. it was for this sun but then he got stung by a sting ray so we will see. we did have two baptisms this week. Alexandre who is the son of Antonia, a recent convert we baptised a couple months ago and also a daughter of a member!!! the lady (daughter of member) name is Silandia. she has two boys that remind me of ander cause they are...energetic haha. and she is 7 months pregnant. but she moved back in with her family cause her husband left her. :( but she is amazing. we are also teaching another couple who i pray we can prepare for conferance weekend to be baptised!!! so something funny this week. here in brazil there are holes allover in the roads. like sewer holes without the metal caps and then holes on the side of the road for water to drain from rain storms and stuff. so its totaly dangourous. but this week we were walking and it was night so it was dark and i was talking to my comp and all the sodon he disapeared. haha. he fell into a hole. it was funny. he didnt get hurt. just bruiesed his leg. also one of the sisters in our ward washed all of our clothes which was great. cause i still havnt learned how to use these machines. my clothes always come out feeling like cardboard. haha. good week. love ya.elder stanger

Labor Day Week 09

Great Jerseys!

Service

Gabriel, Nancy, Comp

gone gangster!

gabriel's birthday

comp killing a tree!

family baptism

serving others

so... just a few things about this week. sunday we finaly got a ward mission leader. so im way excited for that!!! he is the bishops son and he got back from his mission like a month ago!!! also yesterday we had zone conf with the pres and sister. it was awesome. i learned lots.

ONE YEAR!

so this week was cool.
sunday i went to my last area for a brithday party of that family we were teaching that wasnt married and we were trying to marry them. the rich family. well i got there and they were way excited to see me as i was to see them. it was way cool. the mom was so excited she like ran up to me and hugged me and kissed me haha. i was like uhhh haha. it was way weird. haha. but its normal in brazil. you hug and kiss everyone. its like shaking hands in brazil. haha. it was funny. but anyway they said they decided to get married!!!! YES. that means they will be able to be baptized.
my comp went to manaus this week to renew his visa and the comp of Elder mason was transfered so me and elder mason hung out this week haha. it was way fun. elder mason is going to train again so i will have a little brother and wont be the only son anymore :( haha. but ya it was a great week.
yes! it has been a year, but i dont think i will burn a shirt casue they get warn out faster casue of the way we have to wash them :( so i will keep all the ones i have to make it to the end of my mission!!!

well i hope all is great iwth you all!!! i love ya!love elder stanger

August 19, 2009

our contacts are going good. the mission rule is 25 per week and we are doing it but this last week the 25 street contacts we did only 3 lived in our area. that is the problem with working in the center.

my comps name is Elder T. Davis. he is from oregon but his fam moved to salt lake recently. he turned 21 on sunday and has a year and 4 months in the mission. he is way cool. prob my fav comp so far. were doing just great. i have no clue if i will be transfered. prob not though. and the transfers will be sunday.

the food is still just rice and beans. i dont think it will change to much. every once in a while there is a weird meat or somethign but ill let ya know when that happens ok!!!

the weather, well its still bloody hot haha. my toe is good but now another one is hurting. its the one that i broke a few years ago but never straightened it. but o well thats misson life right!!!

and ya the drive on the spyder thruough yellowstone sounds like a BLAST. and romantic. ill for sure do that with a girl when i get back..hahaha.
well we are teaching a family and the husband is a member and was baptised like 20 years ago but inactive this whole time and we got his wife as a referance so we taught her found out her husband was a member!!! so they went to chruch sunday and were received great. brazilians are so friendly. and she read 3 nefi 11 and she asked us if she good be baptised with her kids. so we were like heck ya haha. we makred for the 30th of this month!!!! yes reactivate a man and baptise a family :).

so this week we got home to houre house and i saw a cockroach onthe ground so i killed it. then i saw another and another and so on...haha. we found there hiding place under the sink and we killed about 50 that night and then woke up the next day with daiarria because of all the chimicals we used to kill them. i think we got a little sick haha. but now were all good so now worries :)

also Anita, a recent convert was way cool/funny this week. the cool part is we had an Açai party at her house. we drank TONS of açai haha. the funny part is my comps bday was sunday and here in brazil they sell towels with naked girls on them. so after chruch we go to anitas house and she gives my comp a naked girl towel. it was weird. haha. but ya thats this week. some ?´s for you.

well love ya

New Comp & Loads of Fruit

Coconut

Papaya

Garbage

Fruit

hey mother. ya i have a new comp. his name is Elder T Davis. he is from oregon but his family has recently moved to salt lake. he is way cool and he is from the manaus mission so im learning LOTS of new rules and stuff of how pres jayme works. its way diff the pres milder but im just doing my best to get used to the new mision life. its really weird some stuff. but all is great

Life is Great!

Dear Family, How goes beautiful 1st world country? All is going great here. I am hoping you have not forgotten me... (no mail?) Well, let's see... you have already heard about the Mission division. That's crazy huh? I mean. I am serving in "two" missions as a young man!
News from here: My toe is killing me! I think I might be going to the hospital and amputate it:( I hate pain.) Other than that, life is great!
There are NO tourist here. They do not know Acre even exists. There are some hotels, but they are by the hour if you know what I mean.
I want to bring a monkey home with me next year. They're cute little guys.
I am living in an apartment right now. It's about the size of Annie's Room... That is including study area kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, laundry room etc.... It's tiny! Ha Ha. You guys are really blessed. We are really blessed. The ppl. we teach here live in houses worse then our old wooden barn but smaller. They don't have plumbing so everything (poop, pee, shower water, sink water, garbage, etc.. ) just goes in the streets so it's all really swampy and gross as you can imagine. It is a crazy life.. Just imagine living in that wooden barn... cooking, sleeping, eating and NO you do not get a bed, just a blanket on the floor and YES the bugs stay there too. That is how it is. For water to wash the dishes and stuff they just have a bucket full next to the sink cause NO plumbing to pump water to the house. The other day I was teaching and most of the time we sit on the floor cause ppl don't have chairs, but while I was teaching a cockroach came and visited me. I hate those litle guys. They are annoying! Well that's all folks! Love you lots!
(note from mom: PLEASE WRITE HIM)

BATHROOM :)

OH MY!
This is a bathroom at a house. this is how almost all the house bathrooms are in the neighborhood we are working. WAY poor. I just go behind houses or something, i think its more sanitary haha.

House fallin down!
River!
Me Brandao Comp

Arison & Me!
Taken at Anita's home, a recent converts home.

She is AWESOME!

August 6th.. A visit to a Chacara

so about my week. well, not a whole lot happend this week. it was more like just a normal week. i did eat some armidillo. i dont know how to spell it but it was alright tasting.

yesterday we went to a chacara of a member. its like a cabin in the jungle haha. but it was AWESEOME. so so so much fruit there that is way good. haha. like lots of fruit. and these chacaras are WAY cheap. to buy the land and the house it cost like $12,000 dollors and its like alot of land. like the size of our lane and yard and draw at our house!!! and there are tons of fruit and animals. its cool. but ya that was about all that happend this week.

cute dog pineapplevacation time!
comp kissing dog!
Ya! It's a big SpYder!
Fish!
Cacau

last night the ward did a surprise good bye party for my comp. it was really good.
Adalgisa, the lady we baptised two weeks ago is WAY firm...she is doing great. she will help the ward here a ton. but she bore a quick testimony at the party and it was awesome. she was just thanking us soo much for finding her and helping her move her life and how she will never forget about us for her wholel life.!!!!