Rose's Baptism! 11/7/11

Hey hey family. Well this past week was flippen sweet. We baptized Rose! It was so awesome. I was dang scared because I baptized her and her name is about a mile long, and then I had to say the prayer and everything. It was nuts, but it was so flippen cool. Then on Sunday I  stood in on her receiving the holy ghost. Oh it was so awesome. Alex is 
not getting baptized yet because he is never home, so it is hard to teach him but he will be baptized for sure in the near future. Their family is so legit. I love them! So last night we had a family night with some members and Alex and Rose and it was so amazing. The members house who we had it at are some of the coolest people in the world, and they helped us out so much. It is amazing how the members can do what they do here. 

So ya, we watched like the History of Joseph Smith movie and it was so intense and the spirit was so strong there. It was hard to contain it in their little apartment. But ya after a day like yesterday I can see what missionary work is all about. Me and Elder Swanson were just walking home and nothing could get us down, we were just content. So it was an awesome weekend. Everything went just how we 
wanted it to. Saturday morning we had a service project and cut a tree for this lady and then went to the church and cleaned the font and that 
was fun. 

So everything was just good this week. The language is coming along pretty good. We went to transfers on Tuesday and i was talking 
with a lot of the Brazilians so that was cool. We lost one of the duplas 
in our area, so now there is only 4 of us. And Elder Wilson got a new comp, Elder Espinosa. He is super cool. He doesn't really speak a lick of English, so I walk with him to lunch and it is good practice for me to talk with him. 

So this transfer we don't have any conferences or anything, so the next time I will go to Vitoria will be at the next transfer and I will be getting a new comp, probably Brazilian. Crazy 
right? But I'm excited. Elder Swanson's parents are coming to get him, so I will get to meet them. That will be way fun. But everything on the mission life is going good right now. I love it out here and I love the spirit that I feel and I love the people here. They are so amazing and 
they sacrifice so much to be members of the one true church. They will 
receive blessings so great for their willingness, I know it. I love the 
gospel and everything about the mission and this church. It is the 
perfect organization. 

Well love you guys. Hope you have a great week. Sorry that there is no pictures. My computer is messed up. I'm gonna try 
switching and see if I can send some, but if not then I will get them to you next week. Love, Elder Furrows

(He sent this after)
Here are a couple pics of the baptism. Sorry my computer is still not working and I had Elder Swanson email me these. Sorry about the 4 emails ha ha.

Many Adventures 10/10/11

Wow! That is so crazy about the doctor thing. That is such a miracle for sure! We are so blessed by the lord each and every day, and we do so much to not deserve the blessings, but yet he still sends them. It amazes me; the Lords love for us. 

Well we had to move it back because he didn't come to church yesterday, but it is still coming along. His whole family is all members, so we're not ganging up on him. 

That Rusten, I can't believe him. That is the funniest thing I have ever heard in my life. I was just laughing so hard just barley {What he's talking about here is this story (Told by my mom):Wednesday I came home from spud harvest late and there was a nice 4-wheeler in our driveway.  Rusten was asleep so I couldn't ask him about it but the next morning when I asked him he said he found it.  "Oh" I said, "and where did you find it?"  He said, "In the field behind us."  I said, "Rusten that belongs to someone. The farmer was probably discing and didn't have a ride home"  He said, "No, mom it has been there for over a week and never moved. I've watched it everyday so now it is mine." He was so happy about it.  When I insisted that was stealing and that he had to take it back he was so surprised.  He really thought he was entitled to it since no one had been on it for a week.  He was pretty ticked off at me that I would make him take it back until I told him about Angie Robison's 20 year old nephew that is serving jail time because the cops just wouldn't believe that he found the 4 wheeler. 12 year olds are not capable of being home alone after school.  As much as he thinks he is.}. I can't believe that it snowed that much to build a snowman. That is awesome. It's definitely only getting hotter here every day ha ha. Ya I can listen to that CD. The rules in our mission is that on P-days we can listen to anything, as long as it doesn't drive the spirit away, so it should be good, and you can sure send me mo-tab or Disney or any other thing that you would like that is good like that. When you send the package, I forgot to tell you but make sure you send it through USPS cause that is the only one that really works well they say, and the other ones sometimes make the mission home pay charges once they deliver them, and just make sure you write the address correct and they won't tamper with anything. They say you don't really need all the pictures of Jesus and all that stuff like people say you do, but you can do whatever you feel like ha ha. 

Yes I know. I thought that I would never get a Facebook and I'm getting one. It's crazy to me to but I won't have anything to do with it for 2 years still, so it's still like I don't even have one ha ha. I can't believe you're still slaving away out to spud harvest. I'm sure you're loving it though. It sounds like you are at least ha. 

Well everything back here has been really great. So earlier this week Elder Swanson and I were going out to knock doors in this bairro and we saw these lakes so we're like, "lets go check those out real fast." So we're walking over to them and all the sudden this snake jumps out and was almost about to bite me. I was so scared, but then after we went to this lady's house and she is super legit. It was the first time we taught her that day and she was already willing to keep all of the commitments and everything, and I invited her to be baptized on the 29th of this month. It was a little scary. It was the first person I have invited on my mission and I'm pretty sure she will be baptized. I'm hoping, but that was way cool, and then yesterday was the first Fast Sunday and I bore my testimony. I was dang scared and they said that I was beet red the whole time, but I did it anyways, so that was really cool. It's been a really good week this week. We're hoping to find a lot more new people to teach so we can get our teaching pool a lot bigger, but everything is going great. I'm loving the work and loving the people. 

Yesterday we ate lunch at this member's house that was like a ten by ten foot hut. All it had was four walls and we sat on the floor and it so amazing that these people sacrifice so much to just give us one meal. They are truly great people here. Oh ya one last thing, so we have this coconut tree in our back yard and the guy that owns our house said that they are ready, so we asked a kid in our ramo how to get the water out of them, so here is our adventure with that. It was fun, but I do not like coconut water at all ha ha. Well have a great week.  I love you all!

Love Elder Furrows

General Conference and adventures. 10/3/11

Well hello! Everything is going sweet here. I'm loving it. The language is alright.   It's a lot tougher than anticipated, but it is coming along for sure. Donna Swanson is his mom's name, and she has a Facebook. 

Well funny thing about conference. We only got about half of it in English, so that 
was kinda a bummer, but the half that we did get was so amazing. Man conference is a whole different experience on a mission. I loved it so much. Ya that is way cool. I figured you would be pretty excited about that whole temple in Wyoming ha ha. How did Rusten like priesthood? Has he passed the sacrament yet? Still working away at spud harvest huh? that's cool. 

Oh yes, maple syrup extract. I was honestly going to ask for you to send me some this week, so that's funny you asked ha. But yes, I actually have a list of stuff that I would love for you to put in this package ha: deodorant and shaving cream (but those aren't the things I really need), peanut butter, maple extract and recipe, and possibly my hair clippers if you could? Well I love all candy so anything you wanna throw in there that fits just go for it ha. Oh ya you should try to put some CDs of the band Vocal Point, those guys from BYU, in there too.

Well I work out all day. All the weight that I gained in the ctm, I lose in sweat everyday ha ha. The members feed us lunch everyday. That is the big meal. They don't really eat dinner over here, so you eat a little breakfast, a massive lunch, and then work all day, and at like 10, when you get home and all showered and planned, you can eat another little snack. 

Ya it is only soccer down here and that's all that matters. People will get in fights all the time over it. It's pretty funny, but it's cool. Nothing too crazy has happened this week. Just saw this one old man pooping in the street. ha ha It was pretty nasty. I tried to get a picture, but I couldn't in time. We have a man with a date of the 15th of this month, so we're really working with him, but the devil is strong so we make sure we see him a lot. Besides that, everything is going amazing. 

I loved conference. It is like the best boost ever. I loved the talk that Sister Elaine S Dalton gave on being a father. It was so dang good, and of course so was every other talk also. Well I love you guys. Have a great week.

Love Elder Furrows

Here are some pictures. The one of my feet is the first rain storm we had and my feet got stained black from my shoes. Our house is only the bottom level of this. There is one in there of us watching conference.

First week in the Field. 9/26/11

Hey hey family. How is everything going? It sounds like your are all having a great time. Potato harvest huh? That sounds pretty intense. I bet that is fun and of course you didn't see Aubree. She stays hidden as much as possible ha ha {By the way... Andy is lying here.. haha. I don't stay hidden. ha.}. I'm glad that Rusten had a good birthday and that he was made a deacon. That is such a blessing. Tell him congrats 
for me. 

Well it has been an eventful week. We went proceliting, that's not how you spell it but whatever ha. So we went to Paulista and we gave out all of our copies of the Book of Mormon, so that was legit. The street was so crazy and so huge. It blew my mind. So then we finished up our last couple of days at the ctm, and we headed out at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, so that was pretty dang cool. We got to Vitoria at about 10 and met up with the AP's and they took us to the chapel to meet with president and have lunch and everything. So we get there and have this meeting with all of the trainers and with the pres but we still don't know who our trainers are yet. President is really nice. So we got done with everything at the church and headed off to the bus station because that is where they do the transfers. 

So we get there and I'm expecting this quiet little meeting, but heck no! It was so dang fun. Everyone was just talking having a good time and then they called all of the new missionaries and the trainers up, so we headed up there and they start   announcing the names and my trainer is Elder Swanson. He is way legit. He is from Las Vegas and I'm his last comp that he will have on his mission, so that is pretty cool. So my first area that we're assigned to is called Linhares. It is about a 3 hour bus ride North of Vitoria and it's a smaller little town. It's pretty legit though. There are 3 duplas in our area including us, and Elder Swanson and I are in charge of the biggest area of Linhares, but it is really cool. So we got off the bus at about 9 and we didn't have a way to get home or even know where our house was for that matter, but we got a member to come get us and take us home. So we get to the house and Elder Swanson tells me that this is a really nice house and we got there and I was freaking out because it wasn't very nice, but the next day when we went to lunch at the members house, I realized that it really is and I'm very greatful to have what we have. So we have just been tracting and kinda teaching lessons and just doing the normal stuff.

It is really cool to actually be out here. The language is still pretty rough, but it is coming along good. My first Sunday was cool. Straight Portuguese except this one kid that I talked to that could speak English that is going to BYU-I. He was cool. General Conference is next weekend and we will just watch it at the church. We have a branch of about 100 members and they are all really nice, so that is awesome. So last night we had to catch a bus and take off to this other city to go do some baptismal interviews. The city is São Mateus and it was about an hour away and it was so cool. It's right by the ocean and there is this river that goes through it and it has a slave trading port and everything. It was nuts. So that was way cool except the only 
bus that came back last night was at 2 in the morning, so we got back this morning at about 3:45 and then had to walk an hour to get to our house from the bus station, so that was a good time ha ha. 

I love it here and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I hope everything is going 
well back home. Being out here has made me realize how thankful I need to be for what I have because the people here do not have much. Some of the houses are so horrible, so I'm thankful for what I have. Well have a great week. I love you guys. 

So the pictures I'm not sure what the order is of them. but the big one is my two teachers and my district at the ctm. Then there is one in Sao Mateus, and then there is one of me and Elder Brown at the ctm. He is the one who is taller. Then me and Swanson at the transfers, and then the on with all the green, and that lake looking thing is in Linhares. Love ya!

Feeling the Spirit Through Good Music. 8/31/11

Hey hey!
How is everything going this week? Everything here is going very good, and yes we did go to the campinas temple again this week. It was so amazing. Ya they had Sao Paulo closed for cleaning, so today was the last time that I will get that opportunity to go there. It is the prettiest temple ever. I love it there. Oh I have to tell you a story before i forget about it. So today after we went to the temple, my district decided that we would go out to eat instead of eating at the CTM, so we went to the Rodigio Grill thing and it was so dang good, and then on our way out we were standing in line to pay and I was in the back and this sweet old lady and her husband were behind us in line and I didn't realize, but my collar on my suit was sticking up in the back and the old women said as best she could in english - I know I'm not your mom but I'm going to help you out- and she reached up and fixed my collar for me and I was like, "thank you so much. I'm pretty far from home and I don't have a mother here in Brazil to look out for me." and she was just really sweet, so don't worry I'm being looked out for. That blows my mind that Rusten is already starting school. That is way cool. I bet that he is loving it.
Ya we got new companionships like 3 days after Elder Bennion left so I got put with Elder Brown, he is a stud. He definitely makes up for what I lack in the language. Speaking of which, that is coming along pretty good, so that is good. We commited our first fake investigator to baptism this last week and took away all of his coffee so that was cool.
I'm glad that you got to make it to Zack's farewell. I'm sure he really appreciated that. I can't believe that all my freinds will have gone on missions. It is such a blessing to have such great friends. I look up to every one of them so much.
So last night for devotional my district and one other one had to do prelude music for it. It was so good, we sang Abide With Me Tis Ev´n Tide and that was all in Portuguese, and then we sang Be Still My Soul and that was half and half, and then the last one was the best. It was Joseph Smith's First Prayer, but we sang it to the tune of Come Thou Fount and also the second half to If You Could High To Kolob, so that was way cool. The spirit is so easily invited into the room when you sing good music and it is always so strong when you give it your all. Well I'm glad to hear everything is going well sorry that this is so short. I love you and I love the Lord and I'm so happy to be here.

Elder Furrows

Temples. 8/24/11

Wow it sounds like you have had an intense week, but that is good that you're busy. It always makes things more fun. Of course Rusten would want to live in CA on the beach. I can see him diong that for sure. I bet the wedding was amazing! That temple is so cool.

Ya so we went to the Campinas Temple today and it was so flippen legit. It is massive and it's not like the Sao Paulo one, where it's right in the middle of the city, it is up on top of a hill in the country, or the closest you can get to being country in Brazil. It took about a little over an hour to drive there, and the drive was way cool. It was really thick jungle for the most part and then every once in a while, you would see a little fevela so that was way cool. The temple was just so massive and the celestial room was so amazingly gorgeous. It blew my mind when I walked through the door. I wanted to just stay there forever. The spirit is so strong in there, and you can really just think and clear your mind and talk with the Lord while you are in there and I love it.

I never would have imagined how much I would pray till I got out here and it mind as well be just one continuous prayer. ha ha. But everything is going very well. The language is coming alright. I can get my point across, at least when I am talking about gospel stuff. It just takes me some time, but it will come.

Elder Peleegrini is doing very well. He has totally changed for the better, so that's good. I thought that I told you that Elder Brown and I are comps now. He is a cool kid. he is from Murry. We get along pretty good. One of my teachers might be moving to Utah to be a translator for the church, so I told him that I would take him skiing when I get home. There isn't much going on here besides that. Just staying busy and learning a ton about the gospel and everything else, and there is no place else I would rather be.

I concecrated some oil this week in portuguese so that was a very good experience. We have this thing here called TRC and we practice with fake investigators and one of our investigators we invited to be baptised this semana, so that was cool. He said it might take him some time though, but other than that it the same and I love it.

That's cool that Ty and Sheen got a new car, and that they got so much out of there's. Good for them. And that blows me away that Rusten is already about to start school! That's awesome. Tell him good luck for me. Well, eu ti amo todos voces.

Têm bom semanalove.

Elder Furrows

Brazil MTC experience! 8/3/11

Ok... so for all of you wondering what a ctm is in the last letter, that is how they say mtc down there! :) Well, by this letter he had been out 2 weeks! :) ENJOY!:

Hey mom and everyone! Everything here is going good. Brazil is an amazing place, I love it here so much. The food is still just as amasing as ever, and me just eating and sitting around is not doing me much good at all, but it's alright. They say once you get out into the field that you lose it all the first week, so that will be nice. Ya district leader is pretty easy here in the ctm at least, but I'm sure it is different out in the field. Really? My bike sold? That is so flippen sweet! That is a big relief. Make sure you tell him thank you so much for me cause that was dang nice of him. Really? how long did Rusten stay down there for? I bet he had a blast. Yes I got both of your letters. I think they take about a week for them to get here so that is good. I am sending you out a letter today. Right when I get done emailing you I am going out to the post office. That is one heck of an adventure especially when you don't speak portuguese. ha. But it is all good, it is dang fun. Ya there is no favelas by the mtc but there are a couple on the way to the temple that are dang cool looking. They say that Vitoria has a lot of them too, and also that it is the second most dangerous city in all of brazil. ha ha. Exciting huh? I will make sure that I am always wearing my g's just in case we get shot at ha ha. So yesterday and today were good and bad we had an elder in our district, Elder Bennion, go home yesterday cause he didn't like it here and Elder Pellegrini is trying to go home also today, so that is really sad cause they are both supposed to go to my mission but it will be ok. I know that I love it so much here and that I would never ever come home. I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life and my testimony feels like it is increasing by the minute so that is amazing. How is Uncle Charlie doing? I hope he is doing well. I am praying for him. Ya mowing the lawn is pretty intense right? ha ha. Ya you better give him a raise. Man were definitely taking a trip down to here when I get home and going to the temple, because it is hands down the most pretty temple inside. It would blow your mind. Our whole entire schedule is getting changed tomorrow. They are trying to make it more like Provo, so there will be a lot less down time which is a good thing, cause I love learnig. The language is hard but it will come, I am sure. We actually got a new roomate today. He is from Provo, but he lived in brazil till he was 16 and then moved so he will teach us a lot and I'm dang excited about that. Well hope everything is going well back home. I will send you pictures probably not till I am out in the field because we can't send pictures on the computers in the ctm, and I can't speak well enough yet to get them developed so maybe in a couple of weeks ha. Love you. Thanks for the letters and emails and support.