Letter #3

Dear Family,                                                                                                 Saturday, August 17  

     Yesterday we taught our first lesson in Portuguese!  My companion and I taught our first "investigator" (he's actually a member posing as an investigator), and we taught him about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon.  I don't know how we did it, but we prayed and bore our testimonies in Portuguese! It was a really neat experience.

   Thank you guys so much for the package!  I got it on Friday, and it really made my day!  Our district leader hands out mail everyday, and I was totally excited to hear from you all.  Thank you!  The cookies are great!

     Today we're going to teach Landon again.  We're teaching him the Plan of Salvation, and I hope that we can teach by the spirit, because we can't do it by ourselves.

     So right now it's 6 PM, and we just finished giving Landon our lesson and ate dinner.  Our lesson went great!  Our original lesson we decided to scrap about an hour before we gave it.  So instead we decided to focus on having faith in the Book of Mormon and the Restoration.  And turns out, it was our best lesson yet.  Our teacher even challenged us to teach without using any scripts or notes.  And basically, Elder H and I just prayed for help, and we started teaching.  Landon understood what we were saying, and we committed him to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon and to pray about our message.  It really felt great.  For the first time since i've been here I wasn't feeling homesick or stressed; it just felt good.  Elder H and I were giving each other high-fives and hugs, and even though there was a crazy thunderstorm outside, we were smiling.  It just felt great.

     Also today we had our first gym period.  All of the missionaries in an area go to the gym and exercise.  They have basketball, volleyball, four-square, and outside they have beach volleyball and soccer.  For an hour we can do whatever we want.  My companion and I played four-square, and it was nothing but laughs the whole time.  It gets really competitive, especially between the elders and sisters, but its as much fun as restless missionaries can have.  It definitely helps relieve stress and worry.  Tomorrow's Sunday, and I'm really excited for sacrament meeting in the MTC.  I have no idea how it's going to work, but I think it'll be neat.

     How are things going at home?  I hope you're all doing well.  How did Joe do in the Mt Hood Challenge?  I pray for your guys' safety and comfort.  Honestly, its pretty hard living without you guys.  I'm so grateful that we're a close family, and I'm grateful for all of your support.  P-Day just can't come fast enough (it's on Friday).  I love you all!

                                                                                 Your son and "missionario,"

                                                                                           Elder Fuss :)