54th Week Out, Week 2 Mondubim "Learning the Area"

Dear family and friends so like I said my new area is very small 10 streets by 10 streets and I have already walked every street. My area did not even have a map the elders never made one so I made this map for our area. (google maps doesn't have the names for all of the streets in my area) I had my 1st mission conference here in Fortaleza! because Juazeiro and all the interior areas are far away they usually never go to mission conferences. but now that I'm here 30 minutes from the mission office I got to go! This week we had 8 investigators at church so I hope to have a baptism from those 8 this next week. Last week I was very sad to have left Juazeiro but I have managed to get lost in the work here and Im grateful for the experiences I gained in Juazeiro to help me where I'm at today! I love to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ no matter where I am, thanks for all your Love and support!

Impressions of Mondubim Brasil

• At 9 in the morning here EVERYONE is still sleeping, so its hard to get people to go to church because you have to wake up the whole street nocking on their metal gate.

53rd Week Out, Week 1 Mondubim, Transferred to Southwest Fortaleza

Dear family and friends; 

The impossible happened this week, I was saying goodbye to my companion Elder Azevedo, and then 8:00pm at night I get a call saying I would be transferred tomorrow at 7:00am!  I didn't have time to tell anyone I would be leaving...  Leaving Juazeiro broke my heart.   After 8 months, I had to leave my best friends in the world.  I was just devastated and more that I couldn't even say goodbye to ANYONE..... 

I lost my P-day that's why I didn't email last week.   I spent it on that 10 hour bus ride as now I will be serving here in a ghetto city of Fortaleza.  My new companion is Elder Crispim.  He is also a native Brasilian, the only member in his family.  He is 19 and from Santa Catarina.  He has been out 6 months on his mission and all 6 months have been in the same area he is now.  I'm now here in Mondubim with him.  I'm the District leader now.  I have an area that is super small which is only like a couple streets, very different from Juazeiro.  I am serving in a favela (which is a ghetto) so no more pictures as it's no longer safe for me to carry my camera around.  Two sisters in my district were already assaulted this week!  

I miss and long for Juazeiro.  I love the people there and they are all I can think about.  It's been so hard to accept the fact that I'm not there anymore..... 

I love you all and thank you for all your love and support!

Impressions of Mondubim Brasil

• The roads here are a dirt and rock mixture that by the end of the day does a number on your feet.

52nd Week Out, Transfer Week - No Email

51st Week Out, 31st week in Jauzeiro Fortaleza (Reached my Hump Day...1 year done)

Dear Family and friends! this week you wouldn't believe it but I baptized my second midget! His name is Edimar! I think I forgot to mention but my zone had 10 baptisms last week! and our mission had 88 in just 1 week! This week will be my last week with Azevedo and its pretty sad he is a brother to me! He's getting a little trunky but I mean who wouldn't? All the youth here have left for EFY so church was dead!. (They plan EFY during the week of carnival) yes this week will be carnival... thank goodness I will only have 1 on my mission but we will see how it goes. I love you all and thank you for all your love and support!

Impressions of Brasil Juazeiro

• For funerals here its sad people just bring the casket with the body to their house and leave it open for 24 hours and everyone comes and just sits around the casket for 24 hours. They open up the front of their house so everyone passing by the road can see and for 24 hours its just a bunch of people crying...

Jauzeiro Brazil Outskirts of the City

50th Week Out, 30th week in Juazeiro, Fortaleza (Baptismal Challenge from President Fusco)

Dear Family and friends this was the best week of my mission! so it started like this: my mission President Fusco called and told every singe missionary that they would baptize 6 people this week! Im not going to lie that I had doubts. Me and Azevedo worked Incredibly hard this week and we had miracle baptisms! 

The first was a man named Thiago who is 30 years old. He doesn't even live here he lives in Sao Paulo! He came here to visit his friend who was a member he had been to Church 1 time on Sunday! he told us while he was there he felt something he never had felt in his life and he has been to MANY other church's, we taught him about how Only The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has the Priesthood authority to baptize and he accepted to be baptized on Wednesday just 3 days after! His friend who was a member baptized him and it was a wonderful experience! When Thiago came here to visit he did not even expect to find the TRUE church of Jesus Christ. Like I mentioned he has already been in MANY other church's and when the member here invited him he just figured why not? its not going to hurt anything, so he went and what did he feel? the Spirit which testified to him that this truly is the only TRUE Church of Jesus Christ here on the face of the earth. He had already seen our church before many places in the world because he works traveling but he never entered till this last week! 

Then there was a baptism for a girl who spoke English! Her name is Talmirez she has 17 years old, she simply read, and prayed to know if this was the True church of Jesus Christ and visited the church and received an answer! through? the Spirit. Its not us missionaries that convince people that this IS the TRUE church of Jesus Christ its the spirit. 

Sunday we had a baptism for a man named Charles he is 18 years old! he has been frequently assisting our church for OVER 2 years but never made the decision to be baptized! we have been teaching him for 3 months and this week out of no where we were talking with him and we said "Charles there's going to be a baptismal service this Sunday what do you think?" and he says Yea I'm going to be baptized Sunday to, I want too." He received an answer that this Church is true a LONG time ago, all we did was help him recognize that he had already received an answer! 

Our last miracle was a Woman by the name of Fatima she is 24 years old and she lives way out of the city remember that place I went to were I got lost? thats like 1 hour away from Juazeiro by dirt road and theres only 1 bus that goes out there? (we have a member that lives out there with a car) well she showed up this Sunday with that member all on her own! we talked with her and she said she has been looking for a friend someone to help her and guide. We told her about the GIFT of the Holy Ghost that we receive after baptism, and how that gift is a guide in our lives he literally helps us make RIGHT choices and to know what we should do with our lives, She accepted to be baptized in that day in that very hour! and the member that lives out there baptized her after church! I know this is the TRUE church Of Jesus Christ I know through the spirit of god which revealed it to me! all of you can know as well! you should know! because it changed my life and I know have that guide in my life that helps me everyday but its only something you recieve in the TRUE church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I have over 100% sureness that this is the true church because of the spirit which I feel! This is the same Church that Jesus Christ established here on the earth! and miracles still happen today! these 4 baptisms were miracles! and I get to see miracles EVERY single day here in Brasil! I love you all and I thank you for all your love and support! 

Impressions of Juazeiro do Norte Brasil

• There's cats and dogs EVERYWHERE here they alwasy find someway to get into the church biulding each week haha
• You know the buy 3 for the price of 1 deals that you get in the US? well that dosent exist here... they still sell things seperatly or in packs but its the same price 3 for the price of 3 lol! hahaha

Thiago who is 30 years old

Talmirez she has 17 years old

Fatima she is 24 years old

Charles he is 18 years old

49th Week Out, 29th week in Juazeiro, Fortaleza

 Dear Family and Friends This week its still been pouring rain all week and its the best thing ever! I think every night of this week I went to sleep to the sound of rain! Only thing is showers have been really cold! 

Me and my companion worked very hard this week and we helped a man named Pablo to be baptized this Sunday. He is 24 years old and he is the brother to Reginaldo who was baptized a couple weeks ago. Before we found Pablo he had been drinking and using drugs and just everything bad. EVERYONE here in the city of Juazeiro knows him because he would go door to door begging people for money so he could go buy drugs and drink, when I say everyone knows him I'm not exaggerating either!  As we walked with him to the Church Sunday night for his baptism everyone in the road was like "Parabems!" congratulations!, is it really you man? I can't believe it! "Oh what a blessing from God" etc... Pablo was baptized and after he came up out of the waters his smile was so big he even started clapping his hands! and who baptized him? "Junior!" My recent convert from a month ago who has been staying FIRM! he received the Priesthood 2 weeks ago and this Sunday he go to use it as he baptized Pablo! I'm so happy for the blessing I have to be here In Juazeiro there's no other place id like to be, It will be hard to leave here 1 day! 

I love you all and thank you all for all your love and support!

-Elder Horton

Impressions of Brasil Juazeiro

• NO ONE ever has gas I swear every car I get into that little light that says you have no gas is always on in everyones car and sometimes the meter goes past the empty line! and when people fill their cars up they never fill them up all the way they will just put in like 10 dollars for a couple miles.

Junior on the far right baptizing Pablo in the middle.

What a great feeling to see you baptize someone and then they use their new Priesthood to baptize their friend.

Elder Azevedo's time grows short as we celebrate hard work with fun comfort food!

48th Week Out, 28th week in Juazeiro, Fortaleza

Dear family and friends this week I traveled on that 8 hour buss ride to Fortaleza for a meeting with all the Zone Leaders, looks like these meetings happen at the beginning at each month. 

This week its been raining all week like Pouring rain! I haven'

t seen rain like this for 7 months when I was in my other visa waiting mission in Arkansas! It was really fun as me and Elder Azevedo were the only ones in the streets here in our white shirts and ties, everyone just looking from their window like we were crazy. Yes we still proselyte in the rain here in Brazil! But Me and Elder Azevedo were just having a blast of it I don't know if you knew but when it rains, if you kick a tree it will just poor with all the water on the leaves, so this week consisted of me and my companion trying to soak each other as we walked under trees. As for the work its great we have many people progressing and I hope to see a baptism here next week! 

Love you all and thank you all for your love and support!

Impressions of Brasil Juazeiro Do Norte

• Motorcycles just use the sidewalk when the road is crowded.

You know just plant trees in the middle of the road?!

This is how you do personal study here in Brazil

Mission Prep efforts with the sisters in our ward/area