Whooo! Week Two!

Hellllloooo everyone!

I'm gonna keep things short and sweet this week because I have TONS of
personal emails that I really need to write back to. So here's my
quick update on a few things!

First off, me. I'm doing fantastic and the work here is really fun.
The language is coming along surprisingly quick, and I know I have the
Lord's help. I was able to converse the other day with all the other
Brazilian missionaries and keep up with teir fast language which was
super cool. I'm happy to say that I haven't been sick even one time so
far. I've been perfectly healthy! And also happy to say that I got to
watch General Conference in English which made me super happy. Beyond
that, I go around teaching people about Jesus and His Gospel and it's
fantastic!

Next, the streets. We do an enormous amount of walking each day. For
hours every day. Sometimes, it takes an hour and a half of walking to
get to someone's house because they live so far away. And it's all
super hilly which is really nice. And let me tell you, walking down is
just as hard as walking up. The sights are beautiful, but a lot of the
streets are filled with trash and garbage strewn everywhere. And don't
get me started on the animals. They are dogs EVERYWHERE in the
streets. And often horses. Just wandering around, not doing much.
Seriously. Horses.

Last, I want to talk about a super cool experience we've had this
week. Elder Marciano and I had had a long day without many people to
teach. We were a little bummed, but determined. We decided to visit
someone who wasn't on our pre-planned schedule. They weren't able to
talk right then, but gave us a referral to a small family that lived a
couple stories above them in the apartment complex where the grandma
had recently lost her husband. We knocked on the door and announced
who we were and what we were there to do. The family let us in and we
taught about the Plan of Salvation and how we can see our family again
in the presence of God when we follow this plan. She was so happy!
Later we taught about Joseph Smith and how he helped restore the
Gospel of Christ with Christ himself. The lady just kept looking at us
with this incredulous look. We asked if she had any doubts about what
we had taught, and she said no. She just couldn't believe that God had
sent us to talk to her in just the very time of her need. It was
amazing. We are still working with her, and want to see her baptized
in a week or two.

I know that this Gospel is true and I can see the miracles it creates.
I hope everyone is doing well, and I hope you know that I think of all
of you. Have a good week!

Elder Ashford