August 3, 2011-24 Hours on the Bus Makes One Weep

Dear Family and Friends,

Thanks for all the updates and pictures, I very much enjoyed them. It looks like everyone had a great time. I especially loved reading about what Fano, Timo and Kwub thought. I wish I could have been there...but not really. I like Brasil and being a missionary, and I don't like dancing. But I'm really glad you guys had such an amazing experience. Sorry I didn't write back. Yesterday Elder Craig and I were in Brasilia. We got back about 2 hours ago. 12 hours on a bus, 8 hours of meetings, and then 12 more hours on the bus was definitely not very much fun, but it was so great to be with President and the other leaders on the mission. So I wasn't writing because I wasn't happy.

Everyone looked great in their costumes. But every time I counted my brothers, I thought, "But there is only 4!" Except that Mom looked 10 years younger and Dad, 10 years older. But Grandma and Grandpa were a cute couple. And everyone with fros were cool. I liked all the cool photos you took in front of the temple and in front of Carthage. I can't wait to hear all the stories in a few months. Thanks for everyone writing, now I don't feel so forgotten.

Mission Council was very good. We discussed several problems that have been happening and then brainstormed how we could implement several programs that the missionary department has announced, so it was a very good experience. I almost want to stay another two years and serve with President Gaertner, because it is so interesting to serve with different mission presidents. At the end of the meeting the missionaries that are going home this transfer shared their testimonies. Elder Young is serving as a zone leader as well, so it was a great honor to be there as he bore his and think on the changes that have happened. I am grateful for all of my friends who served missions to give me such a great example.

I also had my temple recommend interview after the meeting because mine expires at the end of this month. Cool thing, it is in Portuguese, so I'm very proud of my new temple recommend, because it will probably be the only time it will be in a language other than English.

With two days not shaving I took a picture. This is my "For the love of all American Food, don't put me back on that bus!"

Sleeping on the bus is an acquired taste, especially when you are taller than the average Brasilian. But I am learning very well how to do it.

Our biggest focus is to help our area. We travel a lot doing interviews for baptisms so our area has been really slow. But we are going to move some things around to get the work started. The branch here is a little slow, so we are doing home teaching visits and teaching a lot of less-actives.

Photos-

-the 2 day beard photo

-my photo for the "Brasilian Weight Loss Plan" with one of my original mission shirts

-average missionary's desk in Tocantins

-a huge moth that we found in our room and I accidentally killed trying to swat it away with my ruler, but I hit it instead (faster reflexes) and a ruler for showing what happened

Love you all!

Elder Barton