May 18, 2010-199 Lbs.

Dead Hush Puppies

Blue Soccer Jersey

Black Soccer Jersey

Vasco de Gama Soccer Jersey

Sobradinho Clouds

Dear Family and Friends,

To be honest, I am quite relieved to see this week end. I am officially 199 lbs. as of right now. Thanks to a good diet of rice and beans, a very hot sun and a poor digestive system, I was down to around 205-210 lbs. But this week my stomach decided to celebrate Thanksgiving early and give more than it took this week. So I lost another 6 lbs. My pants are lovely large and baggy and I get to go belt shopping today! My other belts don't work to keep my pants up. And I don't particularly care to have to always have a hand on my pants so they don't fall off for 9 hours a day while walking. I have also gotten to the point where the other Americans are using the word "scrawny" to describe me. I have never had that word used before.....

That is so crazy about Natalia (a young woman in our ward was just called to serve in Brasilia)! Holy cow. I am still in shock that Matt Barry was coming here, but Natalia too? Now I have to be a good missionary or else she'll know and tell everybody. Oh dear. Tell her congrats for me.

I am really glad Clinton's defibrillator worked (Clinton is one of his friends since kindergarten. He's serving in California and his heart stopped, but his defibrillator works thankfully). Tell his family I think of him a lot, and I hope he is doing well. He is such a huge example to me.

I have a lot of pictures to send, so one email is of fun pictures, the other is of shoes. Bleah. I would love to try the Bompels, if they would fit. But I don't want the package to be too expensive. Things I need....deodorant, razors-the Gillette Fusion-socks and garments I am doing okay right now. If you would record hymns on the harp, I would appreciate that. Actually if you could just attach and email the songs, that would work too. I am bragging a lot about how good you are Mom, so I would love to show them too. I probably won't buy another jersey for a while. The one I bought was nicer-the Red Cross. The one with the little cross was a gift from a family we're teaching. They are a really great couple who have been eternal investigators so we're trying to get them to do small goals like quitting coffee. I really hope they have some serious progress. Right now they are the only reason I would like to stay here in Sobradinho I. But I think that on transfer day-June 1 I think, I'll probably be transferred.

Dad-they don't have siestas here. A lot of people have an hour lunch break, but nothing officially closes. But lunch hour is a sacred hour, so we just talk to people in the street from about 1-2, because we have lunch at 12.

Congrats to all of my brothers for another school year! That is so crazy that Fano will be a senior, but then I also thought it was crazy when he was dating.

Tell Kaisa congrats for being super athlete woman (Kaisa is our family friend who just became the state track champion in the 100, 200, 400, and 4x100 relay. Way to go Kaisa!).

I hope all of you are well and that you're healthy, happy and loving life.

This past week I have been reading in the Book of Mormon about Alma talking to his 3 sons and at the same time reading about the story of David in the Old Testament. It's interesting how their lives are similar and yet the profound differences. Alma the Younger started off as a leader of a group of high-standing friends that tried to destroy the church, but after the angel, and the intense love and prayers of their families, they became the mightiest missionaries and prophets in the land and led the church for years.

David was the Lord's chosen from a very young age and his younger life-from boy hero to young king was marked by heroic acts in battle for the Lord's people and service to the king and prophet Samuel. He led Israel to glory and power that have never been equaled for that people. But his later life was destroyed by his one decision to commit adultery and then murder to hide his sins. His psalm about changing his heart shows his deep remorse, but he committed an act that could never be changed. The Bible Dictionary talked about how he payed and is paying a heavy price for what he did. His later family life was also destroyed by the rebellion of Absalom and numerous problems between his sons Adonijah and Solomon.

The difference how one life changed and how one was destroyed is interesting and very sad. With David, he was in the wrong place because he wasn't where he was supposed to be. It was a time of war and he was in the palace, while the army and all of his commanders were in the field, where he usually was and should have been. The story of the lamb that the prophet Nathan gives is also interesting how David had everything, but took something that was so important to Uriah, a faithful servant who is mentioned among David's 37 Men of Valor. Just a very, very sad story.

Those are my thoughts this week. I love you all and hope you are all doing well.

Love,

Elder Barton