Olá família,

Yesterday we had one of the beat district meetings I have had my whole mission. Our focus was the Restoration and how to teach our investigators this wonderful message in a powerful and appropriate way. I told the missionaries that when I started my mission, I only studied the lessons.
Day after day, week after week, month after month. I studies what scriptures to use as I taught, I studies what questions I needed to use, I studies when I needed to change mt tone of voice and after months and months of slaving to prepare to teach what I though was a great first lesson I made my way to a district meeting on a Tuesday morning in Campinas (this is more than a year ago). So, I arrived at the district meeting confident in my teaching skills and half-way through the meeting, my companion (Elder Wilson) and I were called to practice the first lesson. ´´Great I thought, I will have a chance to put in practice what I have studied these last few months.``
After what I thought was an impeccable first lesson the time came to get my feed-back from the other missionaries. ``you gave way to much information´´, said one Elder. ``I wasn´t sure what you meant to say with that question,´´ was another response, and finally ´´that scripture didn´t fit right´.´´
I felt terrible. Months of studying my brains out every morning on the same simple principles and I still couldn´t teach them clearly.
I then realized that I didn´t need to change the way I taught, I needed to change the way I studied. The way we share the gospel reflects clearly the way we study the gospel. Many wish to study information just so they can pass it to others, I learned that an effective teacher first applies what he studies to himself and then after those principles are sacred and valuable to him he can pass the information with love, sincerity, and conviction. He is not simply teaching a lesson, he is carefully and clearly passing something of great worth to him to someone he knows will be blessed if they apply unto themselves what the teacher first applied unto him.
Once I finished telling this story yesterday I felt inspired that we should hold a small testimony meeting. So there we were in a small rental home in the middle of a city of Pouso Alegre, six missionaries each one giving testimony to the other of the the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit was strong and I learned once again how important it is to bare sincere and loving witness to others that our message is true. That Christ lives and leads this church. The Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his Son, our saviour. That families can be together forever and that this live has purpose, real and lasting purpose. I have come to love this gospel out here, before I new it was good, but now it is precious to me and though I may be filled with imperfections I am grateful the Lord let me be here in these latter days to be a part of this great work. I love you all and I love this gospel.

Abraço forte,
Elder Nothum

Hey mom and dad,
Things are picking up here in the area. We found a bunch of great families and are doing a few new things to find investigators and it is going well.
I was really sick last week and we didn´t get to work very much. I stayed in bed almost three days straight and I threw up a ton, then I took this medicine that made me extremely tired and I slept about fifteen hours straight. But, the good news is that we are working now.
I don´t know what else to write, I feel like saying ´´I´ll tell you when I get home``.
Oh yeah, While I was in Campinas this week President let me pass by one of my old areas and I went to visit a couple Elder Rowley and I were teaching that was never baptized. There names are Fernando and Jociane, and now they have a baby boy named Enzo. When I showed up at the front door, he didn´t believe it, he gave me a big hug and invited us in. He explained that ever since he stopped going to church that things got bad, they nearly separated. They live together but are not married, like most Brazilians, so they can´t be baptized until they seal the deal.
After we talked for a while, Fernando gave the opening prayer and he said something along the lines of ´´Lord, I am so thankful that you sent Elder Notung here again. I am sorry that I stopped following your way, but I accept this visit of Elder Notung as a sign from you that I need to follow you as I was in the past...`` It was a beautiful prayer and it brought tears to my eyes.
He has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and the restoration but he stopped investigating the church after we were transferred because things got busy. He said that they were talking about the Elders a few days ago. I love them a lot, and I loved to see them because they also love us... and it feels very good to be loved by someone you teach, it is probably the best feeling in the mission, no it defiantly is the best feeling.
Well, I love you all and I CAN wait to see you, but I am excited.
Love,
Elder Nothum

CHURCH TRAVEL CWT DATE 13SEPTEMBER11
50 EAST NORTH TEMPLE ST AGENT VH/SD BOOKING REF 4NYWPQ
SALT LAKE CITY UT 84150
TELEPHONE: 801 240-5111 NOTHUM/STEPHEN MATH 173960-R
FAX : 801-240-5115

MISSIONARY TRAVEL
BRAZIL CAMPINAS MISSION

SERVICE DATE FROM TO DEPART ARRIVE
_____________________ _____ ______________ ______________ _______ ______
DELTA AIR LINES 14NOV SAO PAULO SP ATLANTA GA 1035P 530A
DL 104 MONDAY GUARULHOS INTL HARTSFIELD JAC 15NOV
L ECONOMY TERMINAL 1 TERMINAL S
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DL 1570 TUESDAY HARTSFIELD JAC LAMBERT
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NON SMOKING NON STOP
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SEAT 39C NO SMOKING CONFIRMED

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It´s the Fam,

Let me guess Henrietta, Lucy, and... Max! I just want to let you know that ´´I´m doing the work, I´m not a slacker, I´m need I need givie give!``
It was a great week here in São Geraldo. A refferal from a member, Daniala was baptized last Sunday. The branch received her well and she cried after she came out of the water. She is super firm and her testimony is strong. It was Elder Da Rosa´s first baptism and he was the one who baptized her. If everything goes well this week we will baptize a member´s mother. We taught her yesterday. She can´t read so we asked to pray right then and there if what we were teaching is true.
Well, stood up and prayed and asked Father in Heaven if all that we taught was true and she had a vision. In her vision she saw a pillar of fire fall from heaven which came to the roof of the home and stayed there for one short second but then left and went back up into the heavens. She felt the spirit very strongly and she feels that these things are true.
She is extremely poor and humble, but she is very willing to follow God´s will and not her own.
I am happy and we are working hard.
Pray for me that I can have strength to give my all these last two months.


Abraço,
Elder Nothum

It´s the Fam,

Let me guess Henrietta, Lucy, and... Max! I just want to let you know that ´´I´m doing the work, I´m not a slacker, I´m need I need givie give!``
It was a great week here in São Geraldo. A refferal from a member, Daniala was baptized last Sunday. The branch received her well and she cried after she came out of the water. She is super firm and her testimony is strong. It was Elder Da Rosa´s first baptism and he was the one who baptized her. If everything goes well this week we will baptize a member´s mother. We taught her yesterday. She can´t read so we asked to pray right then and there if what we were teaching is true.
Well, stood up and prayed and asked Father in Heaven if all that we taught was true and she had a vision. In her vision she saw a pillar of fire fall from heaven which came to the roof of the home and stayed there for one short second but then left and went back up into the heavens. She felt the spirit very strongly and she feels that these things are true.
She is extremely poor and humble, but she is very willing to follow God´s will and not her own.
I am happy and we are working hard.
Pray for me that I can have strength to give my all these last two months.

a picture of Daniala´s baptism
a picture of Elder Da Rosa and me
a picture of me buying my favorite thing, which is extremely expensive in Brazil, but thanks to my loving parents I splurged

Abraço,
Elder Nothum

Dear Mom and Dad,

I have not been as excited as I am right now for a while. I AM TRAINING AGAIN!!!! Yep I will finish my mission as a trainer. The Missionary department has started a new training program and the programs requires the trainer and the trainee to stay two transfers together, or three months. The missionary that I am training is named Elder Da Rosa ( or Elder of the Rose), fancy huh? He is a Brazilian from Ponta Grossa, a city in the state of Paraná.
He is a great missionary with a lot of desire and he works hard to involve himself in the work. When he was fourteen years old his father died. His father was playing cards with his brothers and then out of nowhere he had a stroke and died instantly. Elder Da Rosa said that nobody was expecting it, it just came out of nowhere, it was extremely difficult for his whole family. At fourteen years old Elder Da Rosa took upon himself a full work load and school. He worked with construction and has worked with construction ever since. He said that what happened with his dad made him grow up quick. He also said that it helped him discover what occupation he would have, due to his experience with consruction he wants to be a civil engineer.
We get along great and we are enjoying eachothers company.
Along with my new companion we are opening up an area. São Geraldo is it´s name. It is far far awy from the mission office. Actually, it is in another state. My whole mission has been in the state of São Paulo, but I am know in the city of Pouso Alegre in the state of Minas Gerais. They say that Minas is like the hillbilly state of Brazil, so I am feel at home. Everyone tells me that Mineiras (women from Minas Gerias) make the best food, so I am excited for that. It is the farming capital of Brazil so the cheapest cheese, milk, and homemade sweets are all within my reach.
The hard part is that the church is extremely weak here, it isn´t a stake, it is district. Whixh means that there are no wards, only branches. Also the city is famous for it´s ´´Catholic Roots´´ so I hear. Nevertheless, notwithstanding, we will labor dilligently. I know the Elders that have been in this area for the last year. And there has been many baptisms, but also many people have gone inactive. The number of people in the branch dips down to 32 people a week some times.
We have high goals and we are sure that with Heavenly Father at our side we can make a big difference here. We wnt to baptize families, future church leaders, we want to leave this place a heck of a lot stronger than we found it.
I feel like Ammon when he started his mission among the Lamanites, I work to have the same amount of success that he did. I love you so much and I can and will wait to see you in three months, but right now that is the last thing on my mind. Keep the faith.

Abraço,
Elder Nothum

Hey fam,

When we teach the first lesson in our mission there is a basic lesson plan that almost everyone follows. It involves a flip chart of pictures and we explain as we flip the pictures. We don´t use repetition, but we always follow the same principles pretty much. Well the first part is God is our loving Heavenly Father and the gospel blesses families, this part doesn´t have a picture. The next part is God calls prophets in each dispensation, we use a picture of Isaiah receiving reveltaion about the birth of Christ. Then we talk about the Savior and his ministry. We use first a picture of his baptism and we explain how Christ was baptized and how we must be baptized.
This past Sunday we were teaching the first lesson to a family. They were all Catholic and when we got to the part about baptism the husband of the young couple got a little irritated. He stopped the lesson and said ´´You two can teach whatever you want to me about how Christ was baptized, but you won´t change my opinion. In my church I was baptized and it was different and don´t need to baptized this way. That is my opinion and I am not going to change.``
Usually at these point I think in my head ´´these are not the elect, or, they are not ready for this message yet.`` And I try my best to blow through the lesson so we can find people who want to hear the message. But this time was different.
I suddenly felt the great need to bear a humble testimony. I don´t remember word for word what I said. I do however, remember what I felt. I felt as though the Lord was putting those words in my mouth because they were the words that the family needed to hear. They all felt the spirit and they just stared at me when I finished, they didn´t say a word. They seemed perplexed, I sure was.
When we invited them to baptized in the end, they all accepted. I know that when we bear humble testimony, without pride or arrogance, but with compassion and love, the Lord puts those words in the hearts of others through the spirit.
We went to the home of this couple to follow up and see how the reading of the book of mormon went. THEY READ! And more importantly they felt something different. We will visit them tomorrow. They are a great young couple with a beautiful young daughter. Their names are Jailson and Aline.

I love you all and wish you the best.

-Elder Nothum

Oí mãe e pai,

As Elder Pinheiro and I were studying this week we became overwhelmingly impressed with the example of Nephi and of his faith in the Lord.
´´ And it came to pass that I, Nephi, said unto them that they should murmur no more against their father; neither should they withhold their labor from me, for God had commanded me that I should build a ship.
And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done.
And now, if the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should build a ship?`` (1 Nephi 17: 49-51)
Recently President Tanner raised the standard pf excellence to 2 BAPTISMS PER WEEK. Everyone in the zone and I would say in the mission was a little overwhelmed with the new standard and well as the other new standards. This week was not the best one in our zone and Elder Pinheiro and I were praying and pondering about what we could do to help the zone. We remembered Nephi.
The lord commanded Nephi to build a boat. He had never built a boat. Not only had he never built a boat, but he had never navigated one, let alone navigate across what appeared to be and endless sea of water that nobody had ever crossed. But Nephi doubted not, he knew that if the Lord asked it of him that the Lord would provide a way.
His brothers, whom he loved, doubted Nephi ´´Our brother is a fool, for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can cross these great waters.`` They had the eyes of the natural man and saw only what was before them, they let the facts of the present rob their faith, they did not believe that God guided Nephi, they thought he was crazy. But Nephi doubted not, he continued diligently.
I thought about how this story is so much like the new standard that president gave us. It is challenging, but if the Lord through his chosen servant commanded us to baptize two people a week, then we can do it. It is just a question of our faith. We watched a video at our district meeting on Tuesday about Nephi and the boat and we bore our testimonies to the missionaries that if God asked for two baptisms per week than we can give him two per week.
We are feeling good and we are excited to baptize two a week, I know it is possible or President Tanner would not have given us the standard.
I love you and I hope you study and search the scriptures everyday. I have learned to love the scriptures, to draw strangth from them. They give me more faith in Christ. They give me more love of God. They give me more virtue and they help me remember who I really am and why I am here on this earth. ´´Remember who you are!`` is Dad´s catch phrase, but I needed to find out who I was first. Now I know who I truly am and my real purpose on earth. This comes from scripture study.
abraço. Elder Nothum

Today was good p-day. We went out to a beautiful house in the middle of the forest, there was a huge lake surrounded by giant trees and next to the lake a huge soccer field with a goal on each side.
We started out with the whole zone playing a game of soccer in the hot sun and then we ate a whole bunch of pasta. After soccer me and three other elders decided to go fishing. It was Elder Leguizamón (from Argentina), Elder Teles (Brazilian), Elder Sean (Indianapolis), and me. The fishing rods were sticks with lines and hooks and the only bait we had was super cheap Brazilian lunch meat. We went 30 minutes without a nibble and then we decided that the pieces of lunch meat were too big. We put smaller pieces on the hooks and managed to catch two fishes. Each one measuring in at an astounding two and three inches. It was relaxing to just sit in the shade of a tree and go fishing with a few good friends.
On the bus ride home to downtown Jundiaí Elder Sean and I started talking about our lives and some of the plans we had for after the mission. He mentioned that he was going into film. He was the first missionary I met that had the same dream/desire that I had. Even though I had basically given up on directing films the thought popped back into my mind, I think we would make a good duo Elder Sean and I, we could keep our standards and make great and inspiring films. I just need to convince him to go to BYU.
This week was a faith tester in the area. We worked our brains out and once again everything fell through and nobody went to church. I was feeling a little down and I mentioned my feelings to my Heavenly Father and I felt much better and I felt a reassurance that he was preparing something for us. After Sacrament Meeting Irmão Sandro Aranha came over to us and asked us if we had plans for that afternoon. We responded no.
He told us that his brother-in-law was moving and that they needed help to make the move. We decided to go. We went and helped them load everything into the truck and then afterwards we helped the unload everything into the new house. They were very thankful for our service and they invited to go to them home the next night. The father of the family is Rubins, he is an inactive member who was baptized a long time ago when he was young and fell away because he didn´t like the church lifestyle and didn´t like the ´´restriction`` of the commandments, but he never let go of his belief that the Mormon people were a good, loving, true people. His wife is Ketlin, and he has two daughters: Rita and Michelle. The mother and daughters are not members.
Ketlin expressed to us that their family was passing hard times. Lots of fights at home and a big lack of love and unity. We taught her and her daughters the restoration and the mom cried when we invited her to baptized. The next day we taught about faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end. The mothe and three daughters accepted baptism for the 31st of this month and they are very excited to receive the blessings that come from following the Savior.
When we are at the end of the rope the Lord always prepares a way to deliver us, if we do our part.
I love this work and I some happy that I have this honor to grow through this service, they is no place I would rather be.

Abraço.
Elder Nothum

Hey family,

   I have learned a lot of great lessons this week. The main one being humility. 

     For a while Elder Pinheiro has been pushing us to raise our goals and teach 10 lessons a day and do 20 contacts a day. I was kind of giving him a ´´I have more time in the mission and I know how to work effectively´´ vibe when he brought this up. He also just seemed kind of down. He then brought up the subject again this last week.

     He started out by saying ´´I want to teach more, I want to give more, I want to.... I....I.....I`` 

  I said if we are going to set a goal it needs to be something we discuss and that we decide together. So he expressed his points and I made mine and I started to humble myself to see that everything that he was saying was right, he had the perfect vision of missionary work. So we were off with our new goals, 10 lessons and 20 contacts everyday.

   I put it to the test yesterday and the result was amazing. I was with Elder Suertagaray from our zone and we got the goals and had an amazing day. In one day we taught 11 lessons, marked 7 baptisms, and found 17 new investigators.  Elder Godoy from the Seventy visited our mission last week and I was really touched and impressed with his remarks. 

   He mentioned his conversion. He said that he was a shaggy haired punk looking kid who looked like he would never have any interest in the gospel. After being baptized he went in-active because nobody in the ward talked to him or tried to be his friend. He had a strong testimony, but felt like an outcast at church so he stopped going. I hope that never happens in a ward where I go. Elder Godoy said that you can never judge anyone by their looks to decide if they will accept or not, but that we must talk with all. I gained a testimony of this yesterday.

    Yesterday, Elder Suertagaray and I were walking to an appointment when I saw two rough looking guys. They had big coats on with fur around the hood and had a peircing in his chin. They both had mean looks on and they just looked sketcy. Due to their looks I almost didn´t talk to them, then I remembered what Elder Godoy said and I went for it.

   I told them that we were missionaries and that we had a message about Heavenly Father´s plan for our families and that it would bring them peace.

  One of them looked at me and said ´´Peace is the one thing I need more than anything right now. My father died this morning and we are going to the viewing here in a little bit.´´ We went to his home and taught him, his wife, his cousin, and his sister about the plan of salvation and about how through the savior they could feel peace and comfort in this moment. We read Isaiah 53:4 and they were all in tears, they all accepted another visit and we will go there on Thursday. 

    To think I could have missed that great opportunity to comfort those in need of comfort is unbearable.

  I can really say that we are working hard now and I can´t wait to teach all of these wonderful people we found. Elder Pinheiro is a great missionary and he is teaching me a lot.

 

    Abraço Forte,

                     Elder Nothum

Hello,

     ´´Estou na boca do Jacaré``. That is our catch phrase here. The city where we work is called Jacaré, which is alligator. So we always say that we are in the mouth of the alligator. 

    We are getting to know the members and they are great. Our Bishop looked us in the eyes and told us straight up ´´Elders, you will baptize a lot here, because here, we do the work.`` That got me excited.

   I went on exchanges with an Elder Smith. We are good friends and he was expressing some of his challenges in the field and lots of things that were on his mind. He is a dedicated missionary who has a ton of desire, it is so fun to help people that want to learn.

   We work all day in a part of the area about 20 minutes walking from the chapel. At the end of everyday we have to up a fifteen minute hill walking, we call it the faith tester. You think you are finished with it and then you look around the corner and there is still more hill waiting for you.

   We are teaching a man right now named Sílvio. His wife has been a member for about 8 years, but he never wanted to accept the gospel. This was due to the fact that he was an ahlcoholic. Well things got so bad that his wife, who is the relief society president kicked him out of the house. He felt miserable and sought professional help. He cleaned up his act and has gone to church three Sundays now. He wants his family back and he wants his wife back, so he wants to be baptized and change. 

   He still has a big problem with smoking. We are trying our best to help him, but the addiction is strong, he has smoked since we was 17, he is currently 40something, so yeah, it´s been a while. We always give him tips on how to stop and things he can do but he pulls the ´´you´ve never had this addiction. you don´t know what it is like´´ card on us.

   He is right, I have never had that addiction, but I have been tempted, billions and bilions of times, by the same tempter and he uses the same tricks. But I told him, I have a firm testimony of when we pray with faith in the midst of temptation, the Lord gives us strength. I have seen it in my life.

   I like to imagine it this way. Let us imagine that you have a swimming pool in your back yard and you have a small child. You are inside the house and he falls into the water. If you hear your beloved child screaming surely you rush to his rescue in a heartbeat. But what if you were in the house and he fell in, but this time he didn´t scream for your help, he just struggled alone silently. You would not save him, not because you don´t desire it or because you don´t love him, but you can´´t hear him.

   When we are a in he midst of temptation we must called upon the Father, we will always rescue us. But if we don´t call upon him, we only have ourselves to blame.

   I think that example helped Sílvio understand prayer a little better and I hope he applies that.

I love you all and hope that things are going well.

 

Love,

     Elder Nothum

hey family,

    I heard about tons of tornados passing and then nobody writes me an email for two weeks in a row, so thanks for comfort and assurance.

   I am happy. We are working like crazy. I am learning a lot about how to serve other Elders and help them to reach there true potential. 

please write

-Elder Nothum

    Hey there!

  I was transferred... again!

 

     I am in Jundiaí again, where I started my mission, but I am in a different area. I am opening Jacaré ( or Crocodile). I am a zone leader again and my new companion is Elder Pinheiro. My fourth Brazil companion in a row, which means that my Portuguese is getting pretty spiffy. 

    Elder Pinheiro is quite a character and I already like him a lot. He is writing a book out here on his mission, a fantasy book about a universe called Snarlex where the dragon god Leviathan fell from the sky and destroyed the land now called Azura. In azuras there is only flames... green flames, and only glorified beings and enter into the land, but they must first cross the Gold mountains. Yep. He is a goofy kid, but he is an outstanding missionary. His testimony blows me away. He has been a member for only two and a half years and his parents aren´t members. He is a great missionary and I am learning a lot with him.

     He also listened to metal music before the mission and did over four years of Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Karaté, and Jujitsu. He is basically amazing. 

      Last night we got into our area late at night and we didn´t know anything about where to go or who to teach, so we just left the house and said a prayer asking for guidance. We found two great families that seemed to be interested in our message. We will teach one today and the other on Saturday.

        Does Missouri still exist, or has it been destroyed by tornadoes? Was anyone we know hurt or killed? What is the death toll? Has the church sent relief to help the victims there? What do they say that this is happening? Why are there so many tornadoes? Do you think that we are closer to the second coming than we know?

   I hope that you are all okay. I rarely get mail, except from sister Kruger and Aunt Casey. They don´t forget a single birthday or holiday. Give Casey a big hug from me and tell her I love her, she has been one of my most faithful writers and I don´t think I have sent one back. 

    Brother Waggeman wrote me!!!! I love that guy! He said that he came back to church, that is so great. Give him a big hug from me and that I love him and loved having him as my primary teacher, we was the best.

   I love you all so much and I know that this is the best two years of my life, I don´t want it to end so quick.

- Elder Stephen M. Nothum

How are you all?

   Good I hope.
   Things here in Campinas are going well. Elder Machado and I are working hard and the Lord is splilling out his blessings upon us. The members have bneen giving us many refferals of their friends and family and they are all interested in the gospel and we are helping them prepare for baptism.
    Yesterday I was on exchanges with a Zone Leader from the Jundiaí Zone, Elder Feitosa. We had a good time and we had a great experience with a contact that Elder Feitosa. His name was Antonio. He has a serious addiction to cigarettes and alcohol. When we spoke with him, he became very happy, he invited us to come into is home. I say home, but I mean a little shed that is about half the size of our living room at home. He listened intently to the message of the restoration, but I felt he understood very little. We bore much testimony and told of the changes he could make in his life through the Savior. He acceptly gladly to prepare to make the changes and be baptized.
   At the end of our visit he broke into tears as he prayed. He was a humble man who honeslty wants to change. How it must be difficult for Heavenly Father see these, His children suffering. But that is why we are here to help.
    I have been reading Jesus the Christ lately. I´ve noticed that every person that Christ healed came unto him, he rarely if never went to them. Also they never asked to be healed in order to proove that he was the Christ, in all cases they already had a firm belief that he was the Christ and that he could heal them. When anyone wanted to see a cure or a miracle as proof of his divinity, he would not do the miralce. Interesting, I thought.
    Well, I love you all and I hope you have a great week.

-Elder Nothum

E aí família!

      This week has been one of the best weeks since I have been out here. I can explain to you how much Heavenly Father is blessing us lately. Elder Machado and I have been slaving these last few weeks giving our all to try to find people to teach. We had finally gotten a group of good people together when all of them, every last one decided to tell us on Saturday that they did not want anything else to do with us and didn´t want any more of our visits. We went from having everything to having nothing.
   That Saturday was rough. Lots of thoughts like ´´what are we doing wrong?`` went through my head as we walked through the ghettos of campinas. We felt good, but everyhting was falling through, EVERYTHING.
   We finshed the saturday knocking on doors with a prayer in out hearts that someone would accept our message, but nobody did.
    Even so we went home with a smile and we knew that the lord would prepare others for us.
  Then, on Sunday things got good. The members brought to church 6 investigators and they were all interested in hearing the gospel. We are teaching so many poeple right now and they all just fell from heaven out of nowhere. We have more work than we have time to do it.
     I used the birthday money I got from you guys to buy presents for you dad and noodle. Some cool Brazilian stuff that you will like, Noodle will love hers.
        Bowling today way fun. The bowling alley was ghetto. There was bumps in the lanes and the ball would wobble in random directions, sometimes for your benifit and other times to ruin your turn.
    I am happy, my companion is happy, and I hope that things can continue this well.


I love you all and I hope that things are going good for you all in washmo and St. Louis!

 As always we are workin´ hard and learning a lot.
   I had an interview with President Tanner on monday where he shared some simple words that helped me a lot. He said that the image of churched leadership can be summed up in one picture. The picture of Christ cleaning the feet of the apostles.
   Ever since I got this call I have been obsessed with my image. Having the best area as an example, having the best numbers, being an example of obedience. I am finally realizing that I had a big case of the ´´me, me, me`` disorder. This has left me not as happy as I used to be, it has lefted me drained, and often annoyed with myself my my lack of success.
    I am doing exchanges with Elder Fa right now, he is at my side emailing his family. Yesterday I was so impressed with him. How he knew the elders in his zone, how he tried to understand them and help them by being their friend. He is a great example of service and love.
  I feel like I got caught up into the big comotion of trying to be something else as an assistant that I lost those ideals, those principles of Christ-like love that make a powerful missionary. Instead I turned into a machine, just pumping out the same stuff, without that love and spirit.
   I am not on a pity parade, I am just realizing that I have a long way to go. Maybe I super-hard on myself, but this are the thoughts that are going through my head these days.
    Also, the mission will change a lot next transfer. Elder Christensen won´t be one of the new assistants, because they will only have two instead of four, and I might be released as assistant to be zone leader in a new zone that we be assemled this upcoming transfer. Whatever happens I know that it will be God´s will and I will be more that happy to do it.
  It was good to talk to you on Mothers day. I hope everyone is doing well.
     Please avoid talk of me coming home in letters and emails, that is far far away and it is something that I don´t want to think about right now. Please pray for me and pray that we might find the Lord´s elect and that they might feel the truthfulness of the restored gospel.
  I love you all and I hope that you all have a great week.

Hey mom and dad,

    As I always say, I am learning so much in this new calling.
  Studying the scriptures this week I came to understand that God
doesn´t expect anything more than me fulfilling my duties of my
calling. Many times I get caught up in thinking, ´´what more could I
do? What needs to be better? Am I giving my all?``
    The Lord doesn´t want us to do anything more than we are called to do.
                  ´´Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and
to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence.`` D&C
107:99
      I have just been overwhelming myself with a whole bunch of
tasks that truely were not a part of my duty. Elder Rowley, Elders Dos
Anjos, and Elder Hansen and I all had a talk about what we are doing
and what we can do better. I felt that a lot of the things that I had
been doing to help the mission were causing more problems than
helping. Elder Hansen and the other assistants all gave a lot of good
advice to me so I excited t try things new things out and help the
mission.
      I have learned that as a leader I am not here to tell everyone
what to do and how to do it, at least not as an assistant. I need to
set an example and always ancourage and inspire the zone leaders. That
is going to make my work a lot easier.
  Our new area is going great. The members help the missionaries a
ton. We got to the area last week and there was nobody to be baptized.
Then we went to go visit the bishop´s son who had denied being
baptized for 9 years and he basically asked us to be baptized. Then
another woman that we found whose son is a member told us that she
wanted to be baptized as well.
    The Lord blessed us in our first week there with two great
converts. We have met tons of great people to be baptized in the
upcoming weeks as well.
    Elder Machado and I have broken our backs working these last few
weeks and nothing, nothing, nothing was happening. We are finally
seeing the Lord´s hand blessing us with great people to teach.
  I am extremely excited and happy to see what the next few weeks bring to us.
  I love you both so much and hope you had a good easter. Give a kiss
to Noodle from me and tell her I love her so much.
  I´ll talk to you on mother´s day!

        -Elder Nothum

     Hello there mom and dad,

   Elder Machado and i were transfered this week. We were in the costa e silva ward, but we moved to the Ouro Verde ward.
 The President has been telling us how we must be an example to the intire mission of success. We have beptized a lot of great people in our two transfers in costa e silva, but I want to be a better example to the mission and I know that Heavenly Father wants mr to do so as well. Costa e Silva has thr best members in the mission, they hrlp with everything and they intrgrate new members extremely well, but the area in itself has been way worked and it is super small.
    When Elder Machado arrived in costa e silva, we put our peddel to the metal and we gave it everything we had for two weeks. We slaved in the hot sun and talked with every single person in the street and almost every single person we found that was good ended up falling through in the end. It was rough. Thoughts went through my mind every passing day ´´am I just a bad missionary? It has never been so hard to have success my whole mission? What am I doing wrong?´´
    These questions just left me doubting myself. After much prayer and questioning I got a call from Elder Dos Anjos, one of the other assistants. He asked me if I wanted to go on splits with the zone leaders in ouro verde. I like Elder Stone a lot and he works there so it sounded good.
     While we were there he said it would be best for him to change areas. That night we found many great peopleand I felt that I should start to work there. I called the president, he approved and now we are here. This area has a lot of potential and I am sure we will have a lot of success, the Lord is present here in this work and I can seeing working in front of me. I am learning a lot about faith and determination, and I am excited to work here.
   Elder Dos Anjos ends his mission next transfer and he will study at BYU. He won´t be able to go back to brazil for christmas, so I want to know if he could spend christmas with us in missouri? Think about it.
   I lovr you all and I will talk to you on mother´s day. We can talk on skype so get that all organized.

-love Elder Nothum

Hey mom and dad,

 

    Thank you for sending the pictures, that is favorite thing to get. Pictures say more than a thousand words. I can´t believe how big the trees are on the birm and how big the river birches have gotten. I also can´t believe how big natalie is. SEND MORE PICTURES.

     We had a leadership meeting this past monday. I gave a discourse on putting on the whole armor of God. I started out with the most recente card that I got from Dad. I read it to all the leaders in the mission and I spoke of the importance of setting and example of hard work and diligence. President Tanner said that he enjoyed the letter and he said that it was the best leadership training meeting since he has been President.

   Elder Lembranzi was transfrered and my new companion is Elder Machado, he is a great and hardworking young missionary.

    I am so busy and I always have so much on my mind as assistant. The more I learn the more responsible I feel for teaching the missionaries.

   Things are going good in the mission. I feel like we have had some major breakthroughs in progress and I feel that the next transfer is going to be a big jump for the mission.
   President Tanner told me that the next assistant will be Elder Christensen. Yep, my companion from the MTC. I am excited to work together and I am sure that we have a lot to do.

   I can talk to you guys on skype at a members home for sure. I just don´t know how to use skype, but I can figure it out. Find out how to use it so that we can get it ready.

         I love you all so much and I am trying my best out here, I am seeing the Lords hand and I know that true eternal growth and success cannot be reached without Him. He loves us and knows what we need. I know that this is true. I can see Him teaching me and molding me. I have such a long way to go, but I am getting a good start out here. I love the Temple, everytime I go, I leave more sure that this is the true and living gospel. There is so much to learn and to on this earth and we need to be careful how we spend our time.

        

   You two don´t know how much you have taught me. I am starting to understand now what you wanted to do with so many things. Thank you so much, I am so grateful for the many lessons I learned with you and the many things you taught by example. You are the best. I miss being able to talk to you and I miss the conversations about movie ideas, about fun family memories, and about gospel truths. But, I am happy and I know that this is where I need to be.

 

   - Love,

         Elder Nothum

Today and yesterday a whole bunch of Americans who had been waiting for their visas for months finally got them and came to Brazil. So Elder Dos Anjos and I had to do a bunch of things for them to get them situated. We also did orientations for them. It was good to see them excited to be here to start of their Brazilian experience. I got to work with one of them for a night. Elder Stephen Smith. It was fun and we also got to have some spiritual experiences together.

But because of all this I am dead and I get one day to rest, and that day is today.

Give baby Olivia a big hug and kiss from me okay!

-Elder Nothum

I can´t believe that Andrew is a dad. Katie sent me a picture of him holding Olivia and his smile was just great to see. I am so excited for him.

 Things are going good in the mission and I am learning so much out here.

   Ever since I was called to be one of the assistants I have began to lose the excitement, energy, and smile I had before. I know about all the problems in the mission, it is all on my plate, and the success or failure of the mission is depending on me and the other three assistants. So that was my state of mind. I felt that I couldn´t be happy unless everything was going the way I felt it needed to go.

    Being that everything nearly never goes the way you want it to, consequently, I just wasn´t very happy. I couldn´t just be happy like I was before.

    This week I went on a division with my ex-comp Elder Fa in his area in Pouso Alegre. While I was there we worked hard and had a good time.

    The next morning as my comp and I were walking to the city bus station, I started to do something that I had never done in my mission. I began to say hello, good morning, or how are you to every single person that I passed. Me and my comp did so with a smile the whole walk and we didn´t miss one person.

     It had an amazing result. I was happy. Really excited and happy for the first time in a while. The smile truly has a power to bring the spirit of the Lord.

       As I pondered about this in my personal study, more truths came to me on the matter.

   ´´Adam fell that men might be, and men are; that they might have joy``

    or even shorter

   ´´Adam fell that men... might have joy``

  Interesting I thought. How could we have joy in a fall. Whenever we sin, go through a difficult time, or suffer to do our acts or the acts of others we ´´fall``.

   We too fall that we might have joy. But the joy doesn´t come in the fall. The joy comes when we you use our God given agency to get ourselves up. We weren´t made to be happy fallen on the ground, we were made to be happy standing up and looking back to where we were on the ground. This brings joy.

   Being happy doesn´t have to do with your health, your social status, your financial situation or anything of the sort. Being happy is a personal choice made with our agency and our faith in God.

    Being happy a smiling a midst deep trial is the sign of true faith and hope in God.  Enduring trials is good, but joyfully learning in trails is celestial.

   I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for this mission that he has given me, the great opportunities to learn and grow have brought purpose and happiness to my life. I have learned how to serve and how to love. I have much more that I hope to learn in these last months.

   I love you too so much and I hope that you too seek the lord through fervent scripture study. Pondering, reading, and prayer will make you see the Lord in you life, instead of just expecting His presence.

 

I love you both,

    Elder Nothum

Hey Mom and Dad,

The transfer blew by. It seemed like Elder Farías and I didn´t get much time together, but we built a pretty good friendship. He was transferred to an area super far away in another state, he was really excited to get there. My new companion is Elder Lembranzi. He is a brazilian from a state way up north called Rondônia. He is a really nice guy. He has been in the mission for about seven months or so. He has had some rough companions inn the past that made it hard for him to progress in the start of his mission, but he has a lot of desire and I think a little lack of confidence.
Apparently, he hasn´t baptized yet in his mission. Which in Brazil, is a big deal. I think that has been a little hard on him and he feels that maybe he is not a good missionary, at least that is what president Tanner told me.
Therefore, my goals this transfer are to help him become a humble and confident leader, baptize as much as we can together, and to get the work going better here with the members here in the ward. They are great and more than willing to help, I just need to be more connected with them.
I had a great interview with President Tanner the other day. As we talked about the mission and other things I had an interesting realization. The gospel of Jesus Christ is extremely practical. There is no hocus pocus faith, or magic success with out effort, or life making changes from one simple prayer. We simply use are agency to become more like our Savior by following Him, or we choose to make mistakes that take us out of His presence. We choose to take all the proper steps to repent, or we choose to stay the same. We choose to happy or we choose to be sad. According to the choices we make, the effort we give, and the motive we have the Lord will give the promised blessings found in the scriptures, in the temple, and in our patriachal blessing. We just have to DO our part.
I could use some more old spice deodorant if you could send some, and sweets are always good. Tell gran that the shoes she sent me never came, I´m sad about that. But another Elder gave me some so it´s all good.
I love the work mom and Dad.
I had recently been thinking about being a college professor for my future work. But, then it just keeps staying in me the idea of making films. There are so many red flags like how to start, how to have a family and make films, and things of that nature, but I really want to do it. I figure that I could get a degree in teaching and if all goes to bad, I could teach at BYU. I would want to teach religion I think, I here that is hard to do at BYU, must be competitive, but we will see. Pray for me, that Heavenly Father will reveal what He wants me to do, so That I can do it. You can send this to direct family if you want, but I am not sending out the big broad one to everybody anymore, I much prefere giving more attention to the most important ones.
Hey Natalie!!!!! I am so proud that you gave a Book of Mormon to your friend, you are such a brave smart girl. Read your Book of Mormon everyday and always pray to Heavenly Father. You are the best little sister in the world and I will be seeing you in just about eight months!!! Did you see those pictures of me on the big rock? That was pretty cool huh?
I love you Noodle!!!!!
I love you all and have a good week,
Elder Nothum

Yesterday was one of the most stressful days of my life. But life is good.

I remember well when I started working at the Fast Trip gas station in Washington, Missouri, Shortly after starting there I was asked one day to work on the head register. This meant that I would have to watch over 20 gas pumps, approve each person that wanted to buy gas and confirm that they paid and didn´t drive off without doing so. Besides this I also had to continue in all the normal functions in the gas station.
On this day it was a Saturday of a holiday weekend and the gas station was packed. The managers were yelling at me, I had let three people drive away without paying and I could not remember who they were. I started my shift at 7:00 and ended at 5:00.
Few times in my life I have been as mentally and physically drained as I was that day. One of those few times was yesterday.

Elder Dos Anjos and I planned to do exchanges with the zone leaders in a nearby city named Jundiaí, the same city where I started my mission. We had planned to call each of our companions so that they could go with us to Jundiaí to switch up with the other missionaries. If our companions did not accompany us there would be no way to do exchanges and we would be stuck in Jundiaí. We told our companions that we would call them the night before to give them all the information on how things would work.
As Elder Dos Anjos and I finished talking about the progress and goals of the mission that night, we called our companions to plan the exchanges. Nobody answered after 10 calls. We thought ´´oh well, we will call them in the morning.``
We called in the morning. No answer again.
At this point I started to feel like my Dad while I was in high school. I said to Elder Dos Anjos, ´´Well, I guess we will have to assume that they are dead, they don´t answer, they don´t call back. Yep, they are dead.``
We decided to go to Jundiaí to visit the zone leaders, and we would just have to stay there.
On the bus to Jundiaí, I really started to get worried about how this would end. I called again, no answer.
I told Elder Guilherme, the nearby district leader to go to my house and ask them why they don´t answer, why they don´t call back, and what the heck they have been doing.
A few hours later I get a call from Elder Guilherme telling me that he found our companions sitting in there pajamas, in the house, in the middle of the day, doing nothing. He gave them an earful and told them to get ready to go to Jundiaí.
They showed up four hours late and upon arrival my companion asked me for money to pay for the bus. I asked him what he had done with the fifty reals I gave him. He then told me that he spent it on soda, ice cream and pizza.
Then I was finally on my way back I realized that my companion didn´t give me the keys and that I had no way to get in the house. I had been out of the area for many days and I had no way to plan because all of the materials were locked in the house.
At this point I truly understood a little bit of why my dad would sit me down and give me talks aboutt responsibility sometimes. It finally hit me.
Nevertheless, the Lord blessed me and Elder Stein and we were able to teach many great families that night and the work is truly going great.
I am learning a lot. Also, I don´t want you all to think that my companion is a bad guy, he is awesome and yesterday was just a rough day. But the fifty bucks on ice cream, pizza, and soda really pushed me to the limit, but, I am learning a lot.

I love you all,
Elder Nothum

Hello!

This past week was amazing. I arrived in my new area, Costa e Silva, and there was nobody. Elder Wolp and I deicided that we would give our all and we were sure that we would find someone interested in our message. So we were off.
We made a goal to do ask for refferals from everyone. Every person in the street, every family we taught, every person that gave us the light of day we were asking them if they knew anyone that would like to hear this is message or if there was anyone new in the area who had recently moved.
After four days of this and a peeling nose from the heat of the brazilian sun we were both dead. We woke up on Saturday and got ready to work knowing that we had not one single person to teach and that untill now, our work had seemed almost worthless. I really waqnted to find a good family to teach, but I that morning I prayed just asking Heavenly Father to do his will and even if I didn´t find a family that day, I told Him that I will still work my brains out.
So we were off, with the same additude. We talked to everyone. We found this one woman who we thought was a member but then she said that she was Catholic and that she wanted nothing to do with us, I think she might have sworn at us but I am not sure, she turned her back to go into her home and then I asked for two cups of water for me and my companion. It was so dang hot that if she denied us water it might have been a crime, so she went and grabbed some.
When she came back I asked her if she knew her neighbors well, she relpied that she did. I asked her if any of them had moved recently, she pointed to an orange house.
Seconds later we clapped in front of the orange house, as you have to in brazil, because they usually don´t have doorbells and they have big walls, so you got to clap.
We then met an amazing family that consists of Luciano, Tanya, and their 14 year old daughter Gabriela. They went to church on Sunday and they really enjoyed it. They are loving reading the Book of Mormon and they are truly a lot happier because the doubts that the gospel cleared up for them. They are good friends and we love them a lot.
Got to go!!

I love you all!!!!!

-Elder Nothum

Hey there everyone,

So, I have been transfered to Costa e Silva where I am opening the area with my new companion Elder Wolp Farius, a Brazilian from Fortaleza Brazil. He seems like the timid type. But he is a hard worker and he has a lot of desire to do the Lord´s work. I asked him what were his personal goals this transfer and he told me that his main goal was to learn and understand more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I think that I should do that too.
It was extremely hard to leave the area of Progresso e Ponte. I loved the members there and the investigators as well.
Elder Latham truely became my best friend. I 100% myself around the guy and he was 100% himself with me. It was like working side by side with Jamieson or one of my friends from back home. We laughed hard and we worked hard. I was never down or felt unexcited around him, we were also giving our all and smiling as we did it. I learned a lot about the importance of being the friend of those you work with, and it truly changes the work and brings a strong spirit of unity, which in return, brings the spirit.
Elder Christensen is now the companion of Elder Latham and I know that they will do great there in Progresso e Ponte.
As this transfer began I started to feel really unqualified. I felt that I would be able to meet the expectations of those around me. I felt that I wasn´t ´´good enough`` to do what I need to. I guess that overwhelmed would be the word. Then, after a meeting President Tanner gave us a ride to a restaurant, there was not enough room in the car so I had to lay down in the cargo space of his mini-SUV. As I was laying down, everything was going through my head, the sadness of leaving Progresso e Ponte and Elder Latham, the anxiousness of going to a brand new area, and the fact the missionaries before us in the new area had a TON of success and everyone will expect the same from us. As all this ran through my head, I started to pray and talk to Heavenly Father about it all. During and after the prayer I felt a peace, I knew that Heavenly Father would take care of everything If I just did my very best and gave my all. So, that is what I am going to do.
I love you all and please, please, keep me in your prayers.

- Elder Nothum -

Well,

This transfer has came to itś bitter end. I have had few companions that have been true buddies as me and Elder Latham have become. We have laughed a lot, we have prayed a lot, we have failed a lot, and amongst our failures the Lord saw fit to let us see some success.
In the beginning of my mission my attitude was ´´I am not here to make friends, I am here to work my brains out and be obedient.´´
I have neglected to be the friends of many missionaries because of this early belief. I selfishly did what I thought was right without really thinking too much about the other person. Yet I have learned a powerful lesson. You need to be a true friend if you plan on having the company of the Holy Ghost in your life. You can be the most obedient, you can be the hardest worker, you can know all the doctrine, but if you don truly love who you are teaching or serving with you will never feel a fullness of joy.
As I have passed these last few transfers I have seen this and I know it is true. Elders Luciano, Rowley, and Latham are truly great friends who I have loved and worked with. I know that it is never possible to do everything 100%, but it is always possible to love 100%. You can control tomorrow or five minutes from now, but you can control your attitude.
The work is going amazingly well and the Lord is truly blessing us here.
Elder Luciano has to get knee surgery so he will go home for four months and then he will return to the mission. Today his family came to the temple in Campinas to see him. I went to the temple to meet them. It was fun to remember all the great times we had together and laugh about all the funny stories. His family is great and I think it was good for me to be there for him. I love that guy.
I can believe that all of those tornados came through St. Louis. I got the picture cube from you guys, everyone is looking great. Spencer's wedding invitation picture was quite GQ, they looked great, and classy.
Natalie is getting so big. wow.
Everybody is doing well it seems.
Yesterday was our Multi Zone meeting and president Tanner spoke quite about the importance of prayer, and the importance of why we pray. He said that our prayers began to have more power and purpose once we understand out relationship with Heavenly Father. He is our Father. He watches each step of our life, he wants to talk to us, we wants to have a conversation with us. The growth and spiritual progression of the Savior was greatly due to His relationship and intimacy with the Father. He had conversation with the Father and the Father had conversations with him. He sought the Fatherś will, and we discovered and understood it, he talked with Him some more about it. He was a Son away from home who frequently called and counseled with his Father. The Father could bless and guide him because Christ sought the Father, he constantly sought communion. Because of His faithfulness God the Father was very present in the life of the Savior. His very voice was heard as he presented the Son after his baptism by John. We too can have this relationship with the Father if we seek him through earnest prayer, diligent scripture study, and an honest effort to follow the example of His son.
We don´t pray to change the will of God, his paths are higher than ours. We pray humbly search and understand his will and then we ask for strength to fulfill it. President Tanner said that prayer is the sycronization of the will of man and the will of God.
I love the mission and I love the Brazilian people, it seems like I don´t have enough time or talents to serve them the way that I would like to but I am giving my all.
I love you all and hope that all is well, keep me in your prayers.

Today was a great day. I studied inside the temple. I did a session in the temple. I lunch in the temple. and then I did another session. It was good.
The young woman who we met and whose mom has a brain tumor, Thias, well she was baptized last Sunday. A whole bunch of people from a whole bunch of other wards came to watch it too. Elder Latham and I sand ´´Nearer my God to Thee´´ in English at the end of the baptism. We mixed up the parts in each verse and it sounded pretty good.
Thais´s brother, Fabrício and his friend Daniel will be baptized this Sunday.
They are a great group of young people who gave up jobs, school, and a lot of other stuff so that they could take care of their mom who is in acoma.
Thais was baptized last Sunday and she is already super excited about doing personal progress for young womens.

Since most of my day was spent in the temple I don´t have much time to write, but I love you all and I love my mission and two years isn´t enough.

love,
Elder Nothum

Well,

Last week I said if nobody writes me a emails and asks questions I will take that as a sign that they could care less. I am happy to report that I received zero emails this week, so I love you all too. I am sure that you all had a lot too do, but I do especially loved this week.

It was a good week. Elder Latham and I get along great and the Lord is blessing us with lots of success. He is from Orem, Utah but he has only lived there for two years, for the rest of his life he lived in California. He is a good guy and together we are working our guts out to fulfill our goals that we set.
Last week was probably the hardest work week of my mission. We were practically running from house to house. We were talking with everyone in the streets and we were teaching as much as possible. Yet it seemed that the harder we tried, the worse and worse thing would get. There was a really scary thing that took place that I don´t feel comfortable writing about, but we are alive and we have a stronger testimony of the priesthood. Then we had three days in a row of the hardest rainfall I have seen my whole life. Yet, we worked and worked.
Ever since last week has ended we have only seen miracles here in our area. The bishop´s wife called us to give a priesthood blessing to a woman who was in a coma with a brain tumor. We searched and searched for the address and after a good long hour of searching one street for house number 520, we gave up. As we started to leave the street I was a approached by an extremely drunk man with 6 teeth. He grabbed my body, mumbled something and they he layed a big long wet whisky filled smooch on my neck then he smelled my neck. A group of nearby teenage boys saw the commotion and asked if I wanted a kiss form them too. At this point we said that we were leaving and never coming back to this part of town.
As we walked we started to see a part of the road that we had not seen before. We followed it and a little bit later we were standing in the front of house number 520.
We rang. To the front divider wall came a jolly little 16 year old girl named Thais. It was her mom Luiza who had the tumor. We gave her a priesthood blessing and it was an amazing experience. As we talked to the family afterwards we found out that Thais had been to church a ton of times and only wasn´t baptized because she moved. We taught the whole family the message of the restoration and all accepted the invitation to be baptized. It was truly a miracle.
Then we met another great family that night. Luis and Erica. They are amazing and are reading a ton in the Book of Mormon.
There is a family here in the ward with whom I have developed quite a friendship. The family of Cláudio, Márcia, Kathleen, Lucas, and Gabriel. Claudio is helping us a lot with teaching and finding people and we are helping his son Lucas prepare for a mission.

We got a picture of my new comp cleaning dishes today.
We got Christmas with Elder Rowely
The one with the food is the family of Valquiria and Acácio that prepared our Christmas day Lunch.
There is a shot of my trainer (Elder Freitas), with me and the missionary I trained (Elder Luciano).
And Elder Rowley and me celebrating Christmas in style with some non- alcoholic apple cider.


Things could not be going better out here. I feel great and I am so happy with the opportunity that I have to learn and serve. I know that this id the true and living gospel and the none can feel the fullness of joy without living and striving to follow the Gospel and example of Christ. He is the only way and he has once again established his Gospel among the children of men. The mission is the best.

Love,
Elder Nothum

HEY!!!!

I am hitting a blank right now and I am not sure what to write. How are you all? Good?

Tell you what, how about you all, every last one who receives this, write me a letter of questions. Then next week I will just respond to them all. I really just would like to see what you want to know. Deal? If you don´t ask questions I will take that as a sign that you could care less.
I am happy, I´m workin´ my brains out and things are good. Also, time is short today because our BBQ went a little to long.

love Elder Nothum