Pictures

Austin and the other missionaries set up a game night for the investigators to meet members.  They played musical chairs and had three legged races!

 

They had a dinner after the games

 

 

All the Elders got together to watch Priesthood session

 

 

 

Zone Meeting

 

 

Before President and Sister Thompson left, the Elders got together.  Some thought it would be fun to play a game and rank the Elders.  Austin companion got ranker 1st (hes in good hands) Austin got ranked 6th.  Not bad!

 

 

 

Saying goodbye to President and Sister Thompson

Hey everyone!!

So this week was pretty good. we taught a lot of lessons and we've been finding a lot of new people. President Kretly is here, but hes in Huambo, so we still haven't seen him. The awesome news, is that H and A and their son E get married on Friday, which is like impossible here.And then they get baptized on Saturday. They're the first family baptism that Angola has had in 5 months!!!

Also, toni, our recent convert is awesome. He introduced us to a lady who is super cool. she comes to church and wants to be baptized. We think her and toni like each other haha. so our plan is that toni baptizes her, then they get married and eventually sealed!! but we wont get a head of ourselves :)

So things are going good. Today for P day, we went to the beach. It was soooo beautiful and way fun!!

This week I've been thinking a lot about the quote from President Monson: "We must develop the capacity to see men not as they are at present but as they may become" A lot of times, we run into people who call us names, or yell at us or whatever.And a lot of times people are just living below their potential.And sometimes its hard not to judge them. But i really like this quote because it helps me to realize why I'm here. When i see people like that, or people who are having a hard time. I realize how much the Gospel would bless their life. And that's why I'm here. to share the gospel with others, cause it does bless lives. I don't know where i heard this but someone talked about this same kind of thing, and said when they start to judge or see mean people, they try to imagine them in all white, preparing to enter the Temple. This helps keep me focused, and positive. Thank you all for all your support!! I love you guys!!! :):):) Gospel blesses lives. Families are forever!!!

Love, Elder Money

Hey Everyone!

Hey everyone!

Congrats to Cory, Jake, and Hunter!! You guys are studs and are going to be awesome missionaries!

This weeks letter is going to be pretty lame haha. So things are going good. Not a whole lot of things are new. My new companion, Elder McCallister, is pretty cool. We have a lot of fun together. But yeah we've been teaching a lot of lessons and sweating a lot haha. same old same old. President and Sister Thompson leave on Wednesday so well be without a mission president for a while. We finally got APs though!!! its sooo nice that were becoming our own mission. or ``Independence`` as we like to call it haha. but they'll be getting a car so thatll be awesome! but yeah, other than that. things are the same!!

One thing that I've been really focusing on is prayer. Prayer is such a huge thing, especially on the mish. I really like the quote that goes something like, Heavenly Father ALWAYS hears our prayers. we pray so that we may be able to hear him. If you take a second to look around i guarantee you will notice Gods hand in your life.

Love you all!!! Remember to count your many blessings!!

Love
Elder Money

Mother's Day/Transfers

Hey everyone!!!

It was awesome to get to see you!! Skype is awesome! You all look awesome and seem so happy! I wish i got to skype more often but i guess well just have to wait till  Christmas! :)

So I'm trying to think of stuff To tell you all about, but its kinda hard cause we skyped yesterday haha. So ill tell you about my day today: we woke up at 6:30 and had to hurry and get ready cause all the missionaries in Luanda were going to the museum today. It was forever away and there was a ton of traffic. (we were late :)) haha. but it was alright cause the museum was pretty lame. it just had some dead animals that are from Angola and not a whole lot more... But After, they read off transfers..... I was more anxious for these transfers than when i got my mission call!! But it turns out that I'm STAYING!!!!!! I'm stoked about that. Ill get to see H and A (the family) get baptized, and i get to stay in Cajueiro... my new companion is Elder McCallister. He trained Elder Fontaine. But he seems pretty cool so I'm stoked! Elder Hobbs is leaving, which hes kinda bummed about, but hes one of the new Zone Leaders so that's cool.

After we walked around Sao Paulo. it was such a cool area!!!!! so different from anything Ive seen while I've been here. There were huge buildings, shops, it looked a lot like New York. It was super cool. and it was right next to the beach, which is really pretty! I took some pics, ill try and send them! And we went into one of the shops and i bought an Angolan soccer jersey :) And then we went to this big tower where the old president is buried but it was closed. And now were here emailing!!

I also want to talk about families. I love how the Gospel is centered around families. I love my family more than anything in the world. One of the hardest things I've ever done is leave my family to serve a mission. But i did it so i could share the happiness that comes from the Gospel. I love the quote that talks about a missionary is someone who leaves their family for two years so that other families can be together for eternity. Its frustrating sometimes here in Angola, because we try so hard to find families, but when we finally do, they're not married and its super hard for them to get married. But I know how important it is. Every child should have to privilege of growing up in a family with loving parents. And i know that those families will be blessed if they have the gospel in their lives. Every Child deserves a family, and every family deserves the Gospel!! Eu Sei que estou mais feliz por causa do evangelho em minha vida. Sei que familias podem ser juntos por eternidade. Eu amo minha familia com todo meu coração. Thank you all so much for your support!!! I have the best family in the world!!! Love you all!!!!

Love,
Elder Money

Remember!! The Gospel Blesses Lives!! :)

Translation:

I know I'm happier for the gospel in my life. I know that families can be together for eternity. I love my family with all my heart.

Awesome Week!!!

Hey everyone!!!

So this week was awesome!!! one of the best weeks ever!!!! last p-day was amazing but i cant even remember it cause everything after was even better!!

So p-day was awesome, we found this new pizza place which is close to our house and has amazing pizza and we ate there on p-day and we went to the praça which is a place that sells all the wood carvings and African paintings so we got a couple of those and when we got home, i had a package from the Bonnets! tell them thank you so much!! and the other Elders in our house had all the pots and pans and everything on the floor. we were like what the heck is going on... and they look at us and tell us they have something to tell us... then they tell us that we´re moving to a place called Cajueiro!!!!!!!!! its this super nice place here in Angola. its where all the senior missionary couples live. It never faults water or electricity, its not dirty, theres not a ton of trash out back and kids who always ask us for money, it has a basketball court.... We´re spoiled :) so we moved in on Friday and i took the first hot shower since I've been here in Angola!!! so nice! :) but that's not even the highlight of the week! :)

Friday we went and talked to our two investigators who were getting baptized on Saturday. Theres BB and theres T. BB decided to have Elder Hobbs baptize him and Me confirm him! i wasn't there when he told us cause i was sick... but yeah i was/am scared to confirm him in Portuguese but stoked at the same time. then we went and talked to T. I love him. hes about 40+ super humble, he cant read all that well, but he does his best, his wife left him, and he comes to church every Sunday which is a miracle here in Angola. but we asked him who he wanted to baptize and confirm him and he said he wanted his friend from church to confirm him, and then we asked who he wanted to baptize him and he asked me to!!! so i was super happy :) We met up with him on Saturday and got some taxis to the chapel and i got to baptize him!!! that was so awesome, and BB got baptized too! And after we had a district meeting at KFC :) then we went and moved into Cajueiro!! it was an awesome day!! So things here are going great!! I love it more and more every week!!

Mothers day is on Sunday!! so i get to skype :) and transfers are next Monday so I could be getting a new companion and going to a new area! I love you all! you're always in my prayers! thanks for all of yours!

Eu sei que esta igreja e verdadeira. eu sou bem grato para meu missao e pela oportunidade que tenho para pregar e evangelho e abencoar as pessoas de Angola. Ja entendi muito e sou uma pessoa melhor. eu sai minha familia por 2 anos para que as familias possam ser juntos para sempre. esta igreja e verdadeira, o livro de mormon tem a verdade. eu sou bem grato para o evangelho e o conhecimento e as bencoas que vem do evangelho. Eu Amo Voces!! :)


Love,
Elder Money

P.s. Angolans are really happy, but for some reason they never smile in their pictures! haha so we call it the Angolan smile. The Taller one is T and the shorter one is BB:)

Translation:
I know this church and true. I'm very thankful for my mission and the opportunity I have to preach the gospel and to bless and people of Angola. Already understood a lot and am a better person. I left my family for 2 years so that families can be together forever. this church and true, the book of Mormon is true. I'm very grateful for the gospel and the knowledge and blessings that comes from the gospel. I Love You guys! :)

Hey Y'all

Hey everyone,

So first of all, congrats to whit on making UVU cheer!!! that's awesome!!!

Thanks for all your emails. Sounds like everyone is doing AWESOME!!! which I'm so glad to hear. I love hearing all your guys stories and everything. I Love you guys and miss you all soooooo much!!! I have the best family on the face of this earth!!!!!! But i am so grateful for our family especially when i see the hardships that some of the families here go through!!! so just some advice BE GRATEFUL :)

So this week was really good, but for no particular reason. I was just super happy this week. Probably because i wasn't sick and other things, but things are going really good. We have a couple Baptisms scheduled for the 4th of may and two more families waiting to be baptized. But one thing i want to talk about is Focusing on the positive.

So Me and my companion, Elder Hobbs are about as different as can be.  And we've gone through our rough patches, but i heard an apostle say that if you don't like your companion, your being selfish. Which is true. But we just have different ideas of what we want to do and how we want to do it. But one thing I've realized is were on the same team. we both left our families for two years to serve the Lord. And we were able to overcome our differences and now we get a long a lot better. We've become super good friends. We have a lot more fun, it makes things easier, our lessons are better, and were all around happier. Now I'm gonna be sad when i have to get transferred to another companion.

So point of the story: i think a lot of times, we focus on the negative, or we let one or two things ruin our day. We cant do this. There are gonna be people we don't get a long with, there are gonna be things we don't like. And a lot of the times, were not going to be able to change it. But one thing I've learned is how much Control of our lives, we really do have.... Given, a lot of times we cant control some aspects of our life, but we can choose how we react to those things. One thing I've learned is to always focus on the positive!!!!! and learn to laugh, and love to laugh. Its one of the greatest blessings we have. So as missionaries, we always leave ´´Convites´´ as we call them. So my Convite to you all this week is to FOCUS ON THE POSITIVE!!! :) Next time some little thing happens that makes you upset, FORGET ABOUT IT!!! chances are it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things and were making it a bigger deal than it needs to be. I promise that if you do this, you will be happier :) So focus on the positive and next time you get upset or feel like complaining, think about the people in Africa like me :) haha jk i have it easy! But seeing the hardships that people go through here has made me soooo much more grateful for what i have. I am so grateful and I love you all and miss you soooo much!!! The church is true:)

Love,
Elder Money

Hey Y'all

Hey y'all,
Sounds like everyone is doing great!! Braden and Ely going through the temple! that's awesome! You guys will be joining all the missionaries in the field!!! Crazy to think well all be on our missions in a bit! That's nuts but crazy exciting at the same time!
So this last week was probably the hardest week of my mission so far. I got really sick. And had to go to the hospital twice. Angolan hospitals are the worst haha. I got tested for malaria and then i got some more blood taken the second time for another test. but the doctor just prescribed me Tylenol and vitamin c haha. But I'm feeling great now! so that's good. Saturday we were scheduled to have a baptism so we showed up at the church and bucketed water into the baptismal font. but our investigator didn't show up!! turns out he had an ingrown toenail.... haha so were going to have to have a talk with him.
My Portuguese still isn't that great. and yesterday in church, I was sitting on the front row (bad decision). and about half way through sacrament, the branch president stands up and says something that i didn't understand and then he says my name and for me to share my testimony. I just looked at him with the deer in the headlights look. and he sits down and Irma Neyde, who speaks English, tells me to go up, and i look at her and go now? so i walk up and just stare at the congregation haha. then i just bore my testimony and talked about my conversion in Portuguese. I don't know if it made any sense. but oh well. So for those of you who have a fear of public speaking, imagine not knowing before hand and then having to do it in a different language!! haha but it was alright.
We have a lot of baptisms set up for the fourth of May. I don't know how many will actually happen but hopefully some do!
Miss you all and love you! you're in my prayers!
Love
Elder Money

Hey Everyone

Hey everyone,
So this week, nothing too exciting happened, especially when compared to last week :) but it was a good week. I had my first division this week. That's where you switch companions for a day. I went with Elder McCune. He was in the MTC the same time as me. So i went to his house and his companion, Elder Wilson, came to ours. It was way fun. We had a blast, got to talk about things, and its nice to have a change every once in a while, even though I love Elder Hobbs. Which is good. It would suck to have a companion you don't get a long with. But Elder Wilson and MCCUnes house is super nice. and its just them that live there. we found some mozzarella sticks in the frozen food section from TGI Fridays.and had those for dinner, they were way good!
Elder Hobbs and i had a lesson with this young girl, shes about 20 and we met her in a taxi. She called us and was super excited to hear what we had to say, so we scheduled an appointment with her, and told her about the church, she started asking weird questions and then she asked if we could date haha. we told her no and then she told us that she wants to marry an American... We invited her to church but i don´t think well be seeing her again haha. That's one of the problems here in Angola, everyone wants to hear what we have to say, but very few want to do anything. so we have to sort out who really is prepared for the gospel in their life.
We have a baptism this week on the 20th. to a man named BB! hes super awesome so that's exciting! Things are going great! Love you guys! thanks for the support!!
Love,
Elder Money

I'm doing great! i love it more and more every week. glad to hear
everyone is doing so good.  i try not to think of home too much, but when i do, i
always think of DisneyLand for some reason. haha i get homesick for
DisneyLand, we´ll have to go there when i get back :) love you

General Conference weekend

Hey Everyone!
Hope general conference was good! we got to watch Priesthood session
with all the other Elders, so that was cool. But other than that, most
things were the same this week. Heat, sweat, Gospel haha. But Saturday
it rained a ton!!!! Africa rain... And no one wants to be seen when it
rains so we put on some street clothes and went out and helped people
bucket water out of their houses. I caught a lizard too haha. but we
went to this place right behind our apartment thats called the
shoppas. its just houses made out of basically stuff the people can
find in the dump. but they're use to the rain by now so they didn't need
much help. but there was a huge river at the bottom of the hill. a
truck went through it and started to turn because of the power of the
current but somehow managed to get out. There were semi trucks
waiting, because they didn't want to go through it. that's how powerful
it was. There were these two Angolans there who were drunk telling
people not to go through it haha. they'd walk in it and then slip and
the current would take them down about 20 ft then they'd walk back up,
it was so funny. but other than that everything was the same.
We have two investigators getting baptized on the 20th and more to come!!!
love you guys!!!!! thanks for the support!!!
Love,
Elder Money

Mom,

Sounds like it was a blast! It was crazy to think that Elder Davis
would be in my room haha. I told him that and told him some good music
and movies to see. Hes an awesome kid. We always laugh that all our moms are
hanging out, but its good. the Elders here are awesome. We all got to
watch priesthood session together in English. but the other 4 sessions
will be in Portuguese :/ so well see how that goes.

I'm taking the elders to KFC today, so if you see a big charge haha its
for that. The family is doing great they come to church, but they
still need to get married. were hoping they get baptized by the 4th of
next month. Jessie Sullivan emailed me and told me shes getting
baptized on the 20th!!!!! You should go!!!!! that's awesome!!!!!!!!!

I also got like 5 letters this past week. two from reed! tell him
thanks! i got one from Kaitlyn Williams and one from Trent Kaufman and
one from the bishop!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!!!

Hope it was a great one!! Wish I was in St Geezy with you guys, but Angola´s not too bad haha. So one transfer done already!!! pretty crazy. Time flies! I didn't get transferred which isn't surprising. Me and Elder Hobbs are still companions. still in Luanda II C. Good news though, hopefully within the month will be moving into A place called Cajueiro. Its super nice! never faults energy or water. and no cockroaches haha. But our place right now isn't that bad.

We have a lot of investigators, but everyone here loves to hear the Word of God, but not everyone likes to practice it... So a lot of times our investigators don't come to church, or don't read The Book of Mormon or things like that. so we have to work on filtering out who really wants to know the Word of God and who just wants to Hear it. Saturday, we were on a split, I was with Elder Hannay. And we had taught two lessons but our other 6 dropped. or they wouldn't answer their phone. it was about 6 o clock and we had nothing to do so we decided to go to a different area, and we start walking around and we get a call from a random number and its a man named Antonio that says he wants to see us. so i asked him where he lived and it turns out that he lived right by where we had just travelled to. We met up with him and taught him about the Plan of Salvation. He told us that he had a dream that two men came to his house and taught him The Word of God... Angolans and their dreams.... He went to church with us yesterday and had a lot of questions about The Book of Mormon so i explained it to him and as he was leaving i told him i´d call him to set up another appointment and he says oh yes, this is where I'm suppose to be! so pretty cool. were doing good and finding a lot of people. I love it!!!!!!!!

It was weird to think that yesterday was Easter. It didn't seem like it. I had rice and mash potatoes for my Easter lunch haha... kinda like egg rolls on Thanksgiving ;) But it was good we kinda just relaxed at home, we studied and it was a super nice peaceful day. I read a really good talk from President Monson in the April Ensign of 2008. It talks about three things that will help us in our lives:
1. Learn from the Past
2. Prepare for the Future
3. Live for Today
This was a huge help to me, because I've been thinking about what I'm going to do when i get home, school, and work, and getting married hahahahahaa JUST KIDDING!!! but yeah I've been thinking about what I'm going to do after my mission and it was a talk that really helped me to focus on now rather than what ill do when i get home.

Anyways, I love You all!!! Hope you had a wonderful Easter!!!

Love,
Elder Money


Ok so you had a lot of questions haha. ill try and answer them all. Me and my companion get a long. Were different, but we don't have any problems so that's good. The other three Elders in our house we are with all the time, in the morning, at night, sometimes at lunch appointments together so we see them a lot. they're way cool. I see President and Sister Thompson probably about once or twice a week. The language is pretty easy. its super similar to Spanish so all that studying helped a lot. And most people speak Portuguese. a lot of people will start talking to us in french hahaha. No one ever guesses that were from America, they think china, Brazil, Portugal, Germany, England, some others, but never America. Yeah we have quite a few people were teaching. that family that fed me the funge still needs to get married, but were hoping they get baptized on the 20th.

Max goes into the MTC this Wednesday right?? that's crazy!!!!!!!! I'm glad Ive already been out for as long as i have. Like you said, we can start counting down the days.

I talked to Elder Davis yesterday! sooo crazy hes going to be at our house in a week!!!! i was telling him to go check out my room for me haha. Hes an awesome kid! i wish i couldve known him better. he played lax for Brighton.

I'm doing great. I swear its hotter than 82. it feels like 100.  Me and My companion are both staying in the same house. but were moving pretty soon into a super nice place. so thatll be cool. I haven't gotten any of your letters yet. from what i hear, letters take about 3 weeks. packages take about 2 months!!!! but yeah I'm doing great. I love it!! i usually eat cereal, eggs and bread, and we have one of those panini maker things so i always have a grilled cheese!! and coke every day haha.

P.s. You know how i gained 13 lbs in the MTC... Well we went to President Thompsons house this past week for a Zone Conference and he has a scale, so i weighed myself and I've lost it all!!! I'm back to a healthy 155 haha. Hopefully i stay there:)