Rain, Rain Go Away

Oi Familia,
To answer the questions;
Ya it's hot here today and really humid, but last week was all rain. It rained about 2.5 feet here in the past week. I'm talking hard hard rain for the whole week. There were tons of crazy landslides that took out some houses and buildings. A lot of people's houses got flooded. This also leads me to my question to you mom. I have pretty much trashed all of my shoes. Just with the rain and all the mud, walking and the sun and the humidity they are basically falling off my feet. I'm wondering if you guys could send some new ones because I don't trust the Brazilian shoes down here.
My companion has an amazing pair of eccos called (ecco hydromax). I'm not sure how much they are and I'm not sure if you guys can get them because I know money is tight but just let me know.
Seattle sounded great, I have some mission buds from Seattle.
Hannah this part is for you:
In my last area there is this sports compound that pretty much has everything you could imagine there. My companion and I would go there and run on the track in the morning on P-day. We went with a member and played on the tramps. There were some synchro girls that were there. I talked to some and I guess that they are some of the best of Brazil. They are twins, I think their names are Bia and Bianca something or other. I can't remember their last name but they were cool and wished you luck. You should look them up just type in Bia and Bianca synchro and I'm sure something will come up. But be careful because they where kinda skanky and kept flirting with me. So I'm not sure what will come up when you look. But ya, they wished you luck.
Well, this week was challenging because of the rain. You do all you can to stay dry and you still get soaked. So it was a little hard to get into some houses. We had to cut some of our baptisms...Brazilians are so lazy, its sad sometimes. They just don't want to exert any energy for salvation. This next week should be great, we are meeting up with the references of families that we have gotten from ward members. So things should get picking up now that the rain has stopped and that we are working with some members.
Elder Croshaw and I are getting along great, and the whole ward loves us. It's great.
Yes, Mom I have made it passed 9 months. Its honestly not really hitting me how fast its passing by. I make 20 years here (will have my 20th birthday) in little and next transfer I'll pass the one year mark on my mission. It's crazy and yes I have learned a crazy lot. I have grown to learn and love the scriptures. I'm going on my third time reading the Book of Mormon in Portuguese and I love it. I learn something new every time. I do feel different, I feel like I have become a better person here in Brazil. It's an amazing feeling when you ditch yourself and focus on helping others. It's amazing. I feel like I have become a better person in Portuguese. Its hard to explain that one, but I just feel the Spirit talk to me in Portuguese and make me a better person in Portuguese.
I love you all,

Elder Manis

Lightsabers

Sup Family,
Yup, change again. I'm now in Andre Carlone (Serra) with my new companion Elder Crowshaw. This kid is so funny he has a little less time than me on the mission, and I love this kid. haha He is a mix between a Randy Carlson and a JT Fuller. He is just the funniest kid just because he says the randomest stuff. I have a little notebook I bought and carry around to write down all the crazy stuff he says. haha Here is one; we were just walking down the street and out of nowhere he says, "Wouldn't it be cool if every Elder had their very own personal lightsaber?" This kid is crazy. In the house [at home] we basically talk about Zelda and Star Wars. He is from Mapletown, Utah and has a huge family. They all sing and play crazy instruments. He has a CD of them singing and everything, like the Partridge Family. PS(send me a CD of Paco's music)
The Elder that was with him before [me] no one [in the ward] liked him, so they basically didn't help at all with the work. But when I got here, they where all happy and we got about 12 references for families that are just waiting to hear messages, so nos vamos ver [we'll see what happens].
It's been crazy in this area. I have had a lot of trust and responsibility on my back and its a little weird walking and working with it. But it is a good thing, I always love the experiences where I can feel and know that I'm growing and becoming a better Elder. We have been teaching a lot of lessons lately and finding some good people. We have a few dates of Baptism marked for the 13th. So pray that everything can be OK and progress.
Things here are going great like I said. My American accent is gone now so I'm not calling attention [to myself] that way. I had to practice really hard. Its funny telling all the members that I'm from Arizona and they don't believe me. haha They think I'm from the south of Brazil.

Hannah you look like your flippin' 20 years old! Geeze girl, take it easy. Wyatt your just not tan. haha Maybe you'll come here on your mission and finally get tan.
Mas todos as kosas aqui são indo bem, tô orando por vocês cada noite, fice fiel e fice come o espirito porque ele vai te-guiarte.
Amo vocês,
Elder Manis (but all things here are going well, I'm praying for you every night, be faithful to the spirit because it will lead -love you)

This is a statue of Zeus that is used on Carnival floats.

"You too can be a preacher and make lot's of money"

I always feel like, somebody's watchin me!

Hey Family,

How's it going? Carnival is finally over and PHEW! That's all I got to say about that. haha

That picture of that Zeus looking thing is a huge float that they use in the Carnival parades. Its so huge. That huge statue is just a small part.

Well, as for us and our investigators. This week we took a nose dive, just a not so good week. You run into them sometimes ya know. The baptisms we had all fell through, so ya.

I'll talk a little about one of them, Sylvia. She went out of town for Carnival and when she came home and we went to visit her and teacher some more she just said¨.. Well I hope this doesn't hurt your feelings, but I don't want to be baptized anymore." It was just a fault of desire. It was really hard to see that happen in front of me. Someone that was progressing so well just say; "Nope I don't want anything anymore." I took that pretty hard and was really mad, and I just said; "Look you have salvation right in front of you, do you want it or not?" And she said "No" So I said; "Well thanks, maybe we will see each other in the future." Then we left. Its just a bad week I guess. But it's all good, you just gotta bounce right back and keep working.

I have a feeling that I'm being transferred and stuff, so that's going to be another big adventure. All signs point that I will be going. So I will let you guys know what's up with that next week.

This week after I had had a few rough days I was reading in the Book of Mormon and I opened to Alma Chapter 8, and started to read. That chapter is about Alma and when he was having a few difficulties in his mission, and how he was able to come back and teach the same people and pegar fogo. I'll let you guys read that on your own.
Things are going OK for me personally. I hope it's going good for you guys. Wyatt and Hannah, make good choices and be a good example OK?

Love,

Elder Manis

OK OK

(Zack went to the Mission President's office to call home. Worried about an e-mail from Mom concerning a auto crash he was in years ago that is coming back to haunt us)

OK OK OK, Well now I'm a little better since I talked to you guys.
Things here are a little rough right now. Its Carnival right now, so its really hard to find someone in their house because everything is going on at the beach, like getting drunk and stuff. But it's a good time because you really have to find out what you have to change to get into a house. Its funny sometimes what we end up doing to get into a house and teach a lesson. We have a couple of dates marked for the 28th of this month, so we should have some baptisms soon. I have a feeling that I will be transferred again. But that will be another story.
Things here are going great. It's just a little slow because of Carnival.
Mom I got your package today and tell Wyatt I didn't see any football pictures in the package. Thanks Mom, it's good to know that you guys are doing great and that everything is going to be all right.

I love you, all of you,
Zack

Carnival

Hey Family,
Well, to answer the questions: Vitoria is great. Carnival in happening right now, so that's a little crazy. It's not violent or anything but it's just a bunch of naked ladies dancing. So that's a little weird. We missionaries have to come in the house at 7:00 pm. The crazy schedule has thrown me off a little bit.

My new area is great. We are finding a lot of great people. President said I should plan on staying here for a little while so that's a good thing. I'm working really hard to gain the confidence of the members here, so it's going to be good to stay put for a while. It stinks being transferred, all that packing and unpacking just isn't fun.
We are encountering a lot of great people and we have 3 dates of baptism marked for the 28th of February. They are progressing really well. But I'll write more about them in the week to come.

Other good news - Wilson, that man that I taught in Rio. He stopped smoking and he was baptized, and he is going to receive the Priesthood here soon. :) I'm so happy for him.
Mom, the one thing I wish I could do so bad is go to the temple. It's something that I have learned to miss. I do miss it so much. Just being able to go there and feel the peace and think. It's the best. My advice to Brighton, just go and go a lot. Just go and think while you are there. Just go and ask some questions. It's amazing.

Well, things here in Vitoria are really different than where I was. No one has said anything to me about being American, so that's great.
It's so crazy to hear that Hannah is 13. Dang girl, that's crazy. Happy Birthday! I sent a letter and I hope you got it. I sent one to Dad too, so I hope you'll get them soon.
As for packages; the mission office is in my area. :) So I can go there any day of the week and check my mail. So keep the letters and the packages coming. And more Photos of everything - me and football and the house, the dogs, all that jazz. Maybe some new ties. I get real bored of looking at the same ones all the time. .

I hope all is going well. I have been thinking about you guys a lot these past few days. (I'm not trunky) Just thinking about you guys. Know that I love you and know that I'm working hard.
I live in the same house with the Zone Leaders. So I hear all about the zone. We are having a little bit of a dry spell. So if you guys could include my zone in your prayers, that would be great. I don't wanna brag or get all gun hoe on you guys. But Elder Valariano and I have some of the best numbers in the zone. :) We do work, :) we have better numbers that the Assistants. haha

So ya, know I'm working hard and that I love you.
Elder Manis

February 2010 Pictures

Me and Elder Campos with our baptisms.

Hello from Brazil! It's all hills here.

I miss my car, Stanley!
AAAAGGGGH! The strength in in the tie!

Emergency Transfer

Well hey, from Vitoria,
Yup, I'm now in Vitoria. Strange huh? I got emergency transferred just the other day. Don't worry. It's nothing like I broke some huge rules or anything. It was just that some Brazilians didn't like that a big American was roaming the streets and I got some pretty heavy threats. So President took me out of there and put a Brazilian there to try and calm things down. So now I'm in the city of Vitoria and I have been here for 3 days now.

I don't have much to say.
My new companion is Elder Valariano and he is a Filipino from Hawaii (Pearl Harbor). So we got's the hook up's when I come home. haha He basically lives in Pearl Harbor (the military base). Things are going as good as can be expected. It was strange to say goodbye to Elder Campos. I only just met the guy a couple of weeks ago. But oh well. haha

Wyatt says I look buff? haha I guess that's a good thing. I am at a steady 200 pounds. I'm not fat, I just think that I stopped growing and am filling out right now. But ya, rice and beans man, it will stick to ya.
Look I'm really sorry but I'm just about all out of stuff to say it's just that I have been in a big rush these past weeks.
The ward here is amazing, and it was the most reverent sacrament meeting I have ever been to in Brazil. It's so much better living with a ward.
I have been reading a lot about the brother of Jared and how his faith was so great that he saw the finger of God. It makes me feel like poo because it makes me realize how much more faith I need and how much I am lacking. But everyday, we can progress :)
I love you guys,
Zack