Week 43 Letter

Monday, December 26, 2011

Hey family, thanks for the email.  Well, first things first.  The pudding... it was Cameron, no just kidding.  I did eat some of the pudding.  I was always meaning to repent about that before my mission, but I kinda forgot, but while I am repenting, I think that you probably found some root beer cans too.  Wow, long time ago.  So I repent for the pudding but as far as the root beer, I am not sure that I have repented fully because in my condition now, I think that I would take some more... I miss root beer man!  It was so great to talk with you all yesterday.  I still cannot believe that I was talking with an accent.  I hear all the other Americans talking with an accent, but I thought that I was still talking normal.  Sorry if it was painful.  I will try to train a little but for mother´s day, which is already coming up.  Time is so fast on the mission.  So, I hope that you all have a great Christmas today.  Oh yeah, also, as far as the transfers go, Elder Santana and I are staying in Ji-Parana together.  This will be his last transfer, so as we say in the mission, he is dying.  It is hard to kill a missionary, but I will try my best to help him leave the mission on a strong note and to learn as well what it is that I should learn.  I am learning so much every day.  I am really happy to stay in the area because we are teaching some really great people and I always hate leaving the area.  Maybe I will luck out and stay another after this because my companion will go home and I do not think that President will want to put two new missionaries in the area alone that do not know the area, the people, the members, or anything.  So, maybe I will luck out and stay a little longer because I loving it.  If not, my next area will become my next favorite area.  it has been this way since the beginning.  Tony, how much do you weigh?  You were looking ripped out of you mind man.   So, all in all, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you.  I love you all and I am so glad that we were able to talk yesterday.  You are all so good looking and grown up.  I love all of you and have a great week!  Love Elder Lee

PS I am sending some pics to you.  I will try to take them more often mom, because I know that you like to see them.  I love you!!


Davylla was baptized two weeks ago.

Kids in the Branch

Mateus and Stephenie were also baptized two weeks ago.

The branch rented this trampoline and Shane is teaching Elder Santana to do a flip

The Mango tree by the trampoline

That's Shane's hand in the mango tree

Davylla's family

PS answers to your questions –

135 is big for tony.  I weigh 70 kilos.  I don’t know what that is in pounds.  (mom’s edit – 70 kilos is 154 pounds)   I think I must be getting fat because all my clothes still fit so I must not be growing taller.  (another of mom’s edits – if his clothes still fit, he is still a 30 and he is putting on muscle as you can see in his pics)  The family I was with to skype you is a nice family but not exactly humble.  they are rich for brasil and the wife has had a problem running members out of the church and getting in the way of baptism, but she has been better.  At lunch one time I shared a message about milk and meat, and I built her up and at the same time taught how she, as ready and prepared as she is, cannot give meat to babies in the church.  They really are a nice family though and are always nice to us.  She likes me a lot and wants her daughter to marry me.  I think that it is just because    she thinks that we are rich though.  But  no worries.  From time to time girls ask me if I could return and marry a brazilian and my answer is that I could never marry somebody that I met on the mission because if would be too weird.  that is so tight about the air soft guns!  Brazilians think that we a crazy because we like stuff like this,    hahaha.  You will have to have one waiting for me next christmas for when I get home and jump in the front lines. Lol  And of course I remember ms martin.  I was the first to have her in the family.  She was my second grade       teacher.  I sure love her.  She was awesome.  Tell her that I said hi and wish her happy             holidays.  I gotta go, but I love all of you and have a great christmas and new year!!!!

Week 42 Letter

Monday, December 19, 2011
hey mom, 
sorry that I left but we had to go to lunch.  I will look at the skype account and get everything figured out.  I have permission to email and even call you if nessecary saterday to make sure that everything is ready.  So, saterday, keep an eye on the email and I will give you an update with a number and everything.  I will skype from a house of a member because it us sunday so president does not want in us a lan house.  Anyways, this week was good although one of our marked baptisms had to do an emergency move out of the city and the other was out of town because of a family crises.  Satan works hard but everything will work out.  This week we are excited to baptize on christmas day.  So today has been a great p day.  Some members of the branch all pitched in money to rent a trampoline, my idea, and we are having a good time.  We even have some investigators here so it is super awesome.  I am missiing tony though, I have to say.  We would do some pretty sick stuff man.  Anyways, I forget what I have told you because the transfer has been pretty crazy busy, but this transfer we baptized Douglas, Davylla, Mateus, and Stephenie.  It has been awesome, and we are ready to baptize some more this week.  I am so excited.  Also, the president is really excited about our work in the reopening area and has some exciting goals and plans.  Elder Santana is doing great and is finishing the mission strong.  We are super good friends.  I think that he is my best friend of all of my companions.  He is awesome and will be a great returned missionary.  Also, I wanted to wish you a happy birthday mom.  I know that it is late, but all the same, I though of you and I am realizing more and more everyday just how blessed I am to have you for my mom.  There are only 11 other people in this world that has a mom like you.  Thank you for everything that you did for me and everything that you are doing.  If I could give you one thing on you birthday, it would me my love and the knowledge that you work is being carried on here in Brazil.  As much as I prepared for my mission, the preperation that is making the most difference is the preperation that you invested in me.  I love you mom, and I am so thankful that you love me.  When I think of you, I remember the words of Paul in the last two verses of Romans 8 when he was explaining the love of our Heavenly Father and his Beloved Son.  I could feel that love every time that I looked into you eyes and I can still feel that love everytime I read your letters. Thank you so much mommy and Happy Birthday from your indebted son, Elder Shane Burnham Lee.

PS  I gotta go already because we are doing a fhe here with some members and investigators.  I am excited.  So, sorry about the crazyness, and I really will do better the next transfer with writing.  It is just that we have already lost two weeks of the transfer because of the meeting with elder bednar and the conference in cuiaba.  I will write saterday and I will have everything figured out already.  Thank you so much mom for you patience and I really love you.

Week 41 Letter

Thursday, December 15, 2011
Hey mom,
Sorry that I did not write this week until now, but it is because we were traveling to Cuiaba for the Christmas conference.  It happened Tuesday so we left Monday at 2 00 am to arrive late Monday night.  Long bus ride, but I am sure glad to be back in the area and back to work.  Oh yeah, to let you know because I have not told you yet, we baptized an 8 year old girl who has been going to church for a year with her active sister. Her mom did not want to let her get baptized until she was 12, although many missionaries tried.  We were blessed to be in the right place at the right time.  We talked to her and she let Davylla be baptized and both her and her ex husband were at the baptism and then at church for the confirmation which also was the primary program and Davylla was the star with the most parts and knew all of the songs better than any other primary child.  It was awesome and the parents are much more open about the church.  Also, sunday we baptized another 8 and 12 year old, Mateus and Stepheni, and this week we will teach and baptize the other brother to complete the returning to church family.  The kids were living with their dad, who is a non member but they are now living with the member mom and the member step father who are returning to church and the step father baptized them both which was awesome.  We are working hard here and we have a lot of people to teach which is awesome.  We are really being blessed.  Also, thank you so much for the packages.  I recieved the two for the b day and christmas.  It really made me feel at home, and I was really touched that you sent a stocking of my companion.  He was really touched also, and he is excited to thank you when we call on christmas.  it really meant a lot to him and it was a reminder to me just how thoughful my mom is.  I sure love you mom!  Anyways, are you there right now?  We need to plan the christmas call home.  I am allowed to use skype.  I will try to use a computer of a member to skypé you, but I do not have a membership, so send me yours our shiloh´s so that I can use one of them and you can use the other.
I love you - Shane

Week 40

Monday, December 5, 2011

Hello my family!

Thank you all so much for all of my birthday emails!  I am so thankful that I was born into such a family.  I have the best family in the whole world.  Thank you all so much.  20 years have arrived and it does not seem real.  I remember being 12 and thinking that the day would never come, and now that it is here I am thinking that 40 will never come... do you think that there is a pattern in this... neeeh.  So, how are all of you?  I am doing well.  I have all set in the area and I am loving it.  Our baptism for this week fell through.  Wanderleia is an 18 year old girl that has the desire to do what is right and wants to be baptized, but her mom arrived home Saturday and from the moment that she arrived, Wanderleia has become less firm in her decision.  We are going to go over there tomorrow and sit down with her and her mom and get everything figured out.  We have a lot of people to teach this week which is good.  We have been in need.  The members are getting excited and helping more now.  I am excited to get to work and p day has become almost a drag to me.  I just want to teach and baptize now a days (does that work in English).  I had a great b day yesterday.  The branch did a party for me and another investigator who needs to get married and has the same b day.  It was fun.  It is amazing that I come arrive in an area and gain so much love from people.  Only in this church is that possible.  It is so incredible.  They even made a cake for each of us.  What great people.  I am well taken care of here mom, no worries.  What else, that is about it.  We are teaching a lot of people although marriage always seems to be a problem.  We are becoming match makers it seems like. So, that about sums up the week.  Elder Santana is doing great, although from time to time he gets eager to get home.  He only has 2 months left on the mission.  I think that it is normal and he is doing great.  I hope that I am the kind of missionary who has the best 2 transfers in the last 2 transfers.  He is awesome though and we get along great.  Super good friends.  So, there it is in an email, but I love all of you and wish you all a great week.  Mom, I do not know if I will be here for Christmas or if we will have transfers because transfer day falls on Christmas, but I do not know if president will do it early or after because he wants to send the returning missionaries home because Christmas.  We have a conference before I think so I will be able to let you know and plan the phone call home.  I hope that I will be able to speak English with you.  Anyway, I love you all and have a great week!!!

Hey, sorry about that, the power went out here and we ate lunch.  I am at a member’s house.  It is raining like crazy here, but that is normal.  It is the rain season.  It rains really hard for a couple of hours and then gets really hot and humid.  Yeah, because of the rain.  I am serious, when it rains it rains and it never rains without lightning and thunder.  It is crazy.  Power is always going out.  Everybody just gets use to it.  They all have candles and matches, including restaurants because it is so normal here.  Ji Parana is kind of known for this.  It is also really hot, although unlike Cuiaba, it cools down during the night.  I did see the blog, although I did not have sound for the videos, I do not know why.  Our problem is that we do not have money to use a lan house because Elder Santana left his wallet in Cuiaba with his money and cards and so we have been living off my money and really having to cut back on living expenses.  I gotta run, but I love you and next week on Tuesday I will be in Cuiaba for the Christmas conference so maybe I will get my packages and letters.  Love you and have a great week.  If you need to send something important, you can because I might be able to jump back later today.  Love you!!!

Love, Elder Lee