(I put some more photos up again. They are all up on Facebook Here is the lind--> http://byu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2140476&id=17821729 )

Wow, were to begin. So much amazing stuff has happened since the last time that I wrote. It has been nearly two weeks, I didn’t even realize that that time had gone by so quickly. I have written in my journal everyday here in Brazil and I have learned that value of it. You can really have a chance to articulate important ideas and orient yourself to your goal. After hearing Elder Eyring’s talk in general conference, I have made it a point to write how I have seen the Lord’s hand in my life each day and it has been very insightful and faith building. I have noticed many things I would have dismissed or not noticed without further reflection. I will try to right just some of the highlights since my journal entries since my last post are 8 pages single spaced!

(Us about to leave for the bus trip back! Not exciting...explained in later post) -->

Teaching

(<- A couple we helped get work. They came to ring the victory bell :) :) :) )

The teaching has continued to go wonderful. Today, was especially a crazy day. I don’t know if I mentioned it before. The response for our work shot has been so strong that we have a 700 person waiting list. I am not sure how they are advertising, at the first of the lesson I always ask for their name and why they are here. So many say a friend recommended it to them and the friend had said it was really helpful. It makes me so happy to be making a difference. The center has always done well with participant but I don’t think they have ever had so many lining up at the door. I am sure Hector and I will teach separately the rest of the time here. I am more than ok with this. I have gotten a really good hang of the language and the principles so I feel comfortable. I have kind of developed my own style and direction, and with all the wonderful things we are doing down here it is just not hard to feel confident, especially when you know you are getting a little extra help.

Anyway, so today, they needed one of our classrooms for a business to do a presentation, so I ended up teaching a class of 30+ right in the middle of the center! They actually locked the front doors to the center, we moved all the chairs and table around, the volunteers stayed off to the side and I got to/had to steal the show a little bit. I could have been so easy to be overwhelmed. I was on display, right in the middle of everything, it was noisy, I had to talk really loud, and I had to use a make-shift whiteboard. However, it all went really well and everyone is anxious to return tomorrow.

Something I have focused on down here is to act and not react and it helped me with that situation. I have had the chance to read a lot of good literature while I have been down here. One I would suggest to everyone is “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, by Steven R. Covey. I am only part way through. He explains that many people like to say are lives are deterministic, that we have a stimulus and that provokes a response. All are a product of condition and conditioning, our childhood, or our environment (Genetic, Psychic, and Environmental determinism). This is not true, and is what separates us from animals and other creatures. Between stimulus and response we have the freedom to choose, we have the ability to act. Thoreau said, “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavors.” I know this is true.