Oi Tudo Mundo,

     It has been another great week at the MTC. Elder Christensen had surgery on a cyst on his pinky and he is doing good. During the surgery they brought me soda and snacks and I got to study my portuguese a lot, it was fantastic.
   Since we have been here almost two weeks longer than we were supposed to be we get to volunteer and help teach new missionaries starter portuguese. The language is going great and There is an Elder from Brazil who is going to New York who we teach sometimes. His name is Elder Dos Anjos, which means "Of the Angels". To all who hear or read this message: I am sending Jamieson Ogle and his mother Terri two Books of Mormon. In the letter I bore my testimony and asked them to read and pray. I prayed a lot about this and I know that the Spirit of the Lord was with me as I wrote. But now, I turn it over to you. Please, Please Please! Be the missionaries you need to be and be a friend and fellowship the Ogles. The main reason poeple become inactive after they join the church is because they don't have a friend in the gospel to build them up. This family could to a great work, don't deprive them of the knowledge and love that you have, please.
     That has been on my mind a lot lately and to show the importance of that I will end my email here. BE MISSIONARIES. FELLOWSHIP. Welcome new members into the Saviors fold as he would. With love, patience, charity, and a smile. "O be wise, what more can I say"

Com Amor,
       Elder Nothum

Hello Everyone,

        So, I have been here for two months now. That is 1/12th of my mission. That seems crazy. Sometimes it gets rough not knowing when your visa will come and just waiting. It feels, at times, that the field is a fantasy world that is out of reach. We have to wait until we are here for 14 weeks before we get a temporary stateside assignment, was it like that for you Dad?
    I was feeling great about the language this week until we had a large group meeting were we talked about what all the Brazil Elders are going to do while they are waiting for visas. We listened to native Brazilians speak the language and they were cookin'. I caught about half of it. But I went from confident to "wow, I really don't know anything."
      My gospel vocab and speaking is great. I can understand when people teach and I can teach well, but outside of that I struggle. I know if I do everything I can, work my hardest, and I am obedient the Lord will give me blessings and it will all be ok.
      Elder Christensen and I have become close friends. I have been with the man all day every day for two months now. It is going to be strange when we get to the field and he is no longer my companion.
      I always say "today is the day I get my visa, I'm feelin' it"
      Elder Christensen will quickly say "Nope. We have five more weeks here." He is a great Elder and I know that I am his companion for a special purpose. I'm going to miss him when we get to the field.
      Everyone who has been to Brazil says that the fruit is amazing, so looks like I will be getting out my comfort zone and trying some new stuff. They also have said that the people are extremely accepting and nice. There is an Elder who as been there for five weeks now. He sent an email that said "this week was a slow week, we only have eight baptisms". That's a slow week! People in the church have developed a ridiculous idea that it is not about baptisms. Well, nobody can get into the Celestial Kingdom without baptism. Also, there is no other way which they can be forgiven of all there sins. Jesus Christ himself said to all the Nephites in 3rd Nephi "come unto me all ye ends of the earth and be baptized in my name." We need to everything we can to help people receive this wonderful covenant. This will open the doors of the Celesial Kingdom. It isn't enough to do "good" things. We must do the "best" things, or the right thing. The right thing is baptism. We should not be afraid to talk about the authority of God that has been restored. The same authority that Christ's Apostles used to baptize. We should  help others understand that the proper authority from God has been restored through a prophet, and we have prophets today. So fellowship new members in your wards. Be the rock and friend they need. We learn in Mosiah 4 that you must not "stay your hand", you must be charitable in all things, especially with our knowledge of Christ. Everthing I will teach comes down to the first principle in the first lesson "God is Our Loving Heavenly Father". That is why we had the Atonement and that is why we had the Restoration. It is the reason we have the Book of Mormon. Help others. Do everything you can for others. "Bless those that curse you". We are all beggers trying to get through this life. We all call on the same God. Pray for Charity.

I love you all. Family if you want to, send me stamps.

Com Amor,
     Elder Nothum

Hey there!

Well, yesterday was transfers and well, I was transfered. I am now in Campinas!!!! The big city. I got here yesterday and I like my companion a lot. He is a really awesome, loving, patient, and hard working guy. He is from Washington state. He went to BYU at the same time as I did, he just lived on the other side of campus. One of my friends was his home teaching companion. His name in Elder Rowley. We are both excited to be working together and I just know that this transfer is going to be filled with tons of learning and great experiences.
My area is called Progresso. It´s portuguse for ´´Progress´´, but I think that goes with out saying.
It was sad to say goodbye to Elder Luciano, we had such a good time and we learned so much together. On Fast Sunday we both bore our testimonies about true friends and the great experiences we had together. We both shed a few tears and It was a very special experience.
I learned a great lesson about the power of the fast this week. Usually when we fast here, I drink a bunch of water and eat quite a bit before we start because we walk so much and it gets extremely hot. Yet, on Saturday we ate only a little bit and I drank barely any water. Then as we arrived at a members home they were all starting their fast, and they invited us to join their prayer and so we started our fast then. The next day was extremely hot. I thought for sure that it would miserable walking to get people to go to church with us, yet as I walked I felt full. It was a strange sensation that words can not explain. It was as if the Spitit of the Lord was my food and that it brought me strength instead of protein. I learned a new lesson about fasting and it´s power and purpose.
Also, when I left the Botucatu Zone I had to say goodbye to a few other friends. Elder Long and Elder Russo. It was strange saying goodbye to Elder Russo because this is his last transfer and then he will go home. It is sad because he lives in Brazil and I don´t have the surety that I will ever see him again. But, we promised eachother that we would meet again before the spirit world. He is a great Elder and I´m gunna miss him.
I threw in some photos of our tastey brazilian bbq from last week. It was so good. The members name is Junior, we wqas baptized about a month ago. He made this garlig cremey cheese like dip that we ate with pepper extract, we is so good. We just sat, and they brought plates of meat to us as we played Uno.
Then we played a good game of soccer and I realized that my companion is an amazing soccer player. He turned down an eight year proffesional contract to play soccer to go on a mission. He showed us all up. But, I tracked him with my american whit. As I was going to kick it for a penalty goal, I did a pump fake with my foot and then kicked to the otherside for a goal. We all laughed. A group of teenage girls gathered on a hill behind us and were laughing at us americans because of they way we played soccer, it was humbling and a work out.
We have the baptismal photo here of William.
Sister Rosineia sent us a text message that said ´´Come to my house, my friend wants to be baptized´´
This man had wanted to leave the world of drugs so badly. He tried and tried, but the same friends always came around and got him to start again. Finally, he just decided to leave the city an get away. His mother was friends with Sister Rosineia and told her of his situation. She opened her home to him, helped him get a job, and taught him the gospel. He was so happy to change and have a new beggining. I know that through Christ all can live again, be they dead spiritually or physically. That was the weekly miracle. It is amazing what happens when we serve people as Christ would serve them, yet we made a covenant to do that when we were baptized so we should do a better job of ´´Always remember Him and keep His commandments which he hath given them´´.
I will miss Jaú a lot, I learned and changed so much there, but I am ready and happy to b here in Campinas with Elder Rowley.

I love you all, but I love Natalie the most!

Love,
Elder Stephen Mathias Nothum

Dear Everyone,
   

Time is flying by here at the Provo MTC. The computer was glitching so I lost almost half my  email time so this one is going to be a little short.
 

 It seems like yesterday that I got here and it has been seven weeks. If I got my visa this week, they would probably send me straight to the field. I am ready and not ready. The language is tough but every time I get discouraged I look at how far I have come. Seven weeks ago, I didn't know how to say anything in Portuguese and now I can teach lessons in that language. The Lord is in this work and that is why I have been able to make the progress that I have made. Yesterday, Elder Christensen and I were reading "Pregar Meu Evangello" (Preach My Gospel). We read nearly a whole chapter and we understood almost everything. Afterward, we looked at each other and were freaking out. Learning a language good enough to share the gospel in seven weeks seems impossible, but nothing is impossible when the Lord is on your side.

Our MTC president is the great great grandson of Hyrum Smith. He is a neat guy.

Elder Christensen got some warts removed a few weeks ago. They injected this stuff they use for chemo therapy into his skin under the wart. They told him to come back when the skin was charcoal black. Well, it is pretty black and gross looking so today we are making the trip back to the foot doctor and he is going to scrape the skin off.

I can't believe how much I have learned and how much I have to learn/want to learn. I want to soak it all up but it is going by so fast. I'm going to learn so much about church work and I can't wait to apply what I learn for the rest of my life.
   
CONGRATULATIONS SPENCER AND BRITTANY. YOU ARE AWESOME AND I'M SO HAPPY/PROUD OF YOU!

    Com Amor,
             Elder Nothum