December 17, 2012

Hey Mom,
     So I'll update you on this first week I had in my new area.
First off I got the house cleaned part way!  Not sure if you have ever seen a typical missionary house, but it's bad.  Bad as college dorms!  But it's much better now.  
     We are doing good.  My new companion is very quiet and very chill.  I like him a lot.  We have lots of new members in this ward and some of them are slipping and some are power!  We have started to work with a lot of recent converts.  I like this kind of work a lot.  We were teaching with the President of the Quorum, who was baptized 2 years ago.  The lady that we were teaching was being soft and giving a lot of excuses.  Like, "this wasn't the right time for her to change."  And I paused to think for a second and Jairus, the member that was with us, asked her when the SAvior comes what will you say?  I didn't have the courage to ask a question like that.  He then told her that he thought they same way she did for a long time.  He was going to a lot of different churches and stuff but when he found the true church he really began to feel the Spirit and come to know his Savior.  I really felt the spirit strong there.  Unfortunately she still said it wasn't the right time for her so we let it go.  We had already given it a good drilling so who knows.  We will pass by there again this week but I wish she would have had a little bit of courage to change. 
     So far I don't have too may funny stories here.  Except these two old ladies making fun of me.  HAHAHA.  This was pretty funny actually.  So we had stopped to talk with them and they were sitting outside.  Right off the bat I see that they have Bibles out from the Jehovas Witnesses.  We were having a Christmas activity so we invited them and they said that they didn't like Christmas!  I about died!!!  They asked me how old Jesus was, so I said that he was 33 when he had died and they started laughing!  Then she muttered something else about today, I didn't understand her too well but she asked waht about today and I said 2012 years, then they said we don't know he is infinite.  Ah boy too funny!  But they were two old ladies so I couldn't really get into it with them so we walked away chuckling too!
     I had been wanting to buy a motorcycle when I got back because everyone here has them and they are pretty cool.  We helped two people this week who crashed right in front of us.  One guy wasn't too bad, just tore up his leg.  The other guy broke his foot, lost of the tip of a finger and had a bunch of road rash.  So I think I'll just stick with a car from here on out!
     Well I love you guys!  Merry Christmas and I'll talk to you next week!
Com Amore Abraco,
Elder Krause

I am in Dias D'Avila

This is me with Elder Bassi before we left.  I was transferring and he was going home!

Well I got here about an hour ago, so I don't know the city too well yet!  They have two wards here.  The city looks nice and it's known for the good water.  My comp is another american and seems pretty cool.  He is from Washington.  I am about an hour outside of Salvador.  I stopped by my new apartment for like 20 minutes, it's nice, but needs to be cleaned.

Here is my Thanksgiving "feast"

December 11, 2012

This is the new Bishop and his wife.  They are return missionaries and are the strength of the ward!  And also my very good friend!

This was our family home evening that we had last night with some of our good friends from the ward.  It was hard to say good bye!

This is Mahbean, an 8 year old girl that is very intelligent.  She asked me to baptize her!

Pictures from Kyle

 Enjoying some Pday hiking!

 Camilla's baptism

 Felipe's baptism

 Map of our town

This is us at the wedding- We went to a wedding of one of investigators, it was in a government building, they were just doing a civil marriage, so we went and it was a room chuck full of people!, it was hot, and everyone else besides the people getting married looked kinda miserable. So our buddies went up there to be married and I was sitting in the crowd, and after they kissed I started clapping and hollering, they got quite a chuckle out of it, because I was indeed the only one clapping, but I was happy. 

 Enjoying a little Pday bbq with some other elders.

And some soccer fun on Pday!

November 6, 2012

Hey I just got on real quick to send a letter to Pres. but I just wanted to share a little thought with everyone, Romans 8;16-18, our true potential is there within us, we were made  with the potential to be great, so don't hold yourself back with the cares of the world, or by not obeying the commandments, these were given to us to help us achieve our true potential. 

I love you all so much!

October 30, 2012

Pres. Hart called a few days ago and said I would stay this next transfer with Elder. Bassi, but we would both leave after this one so I have to keep exceptionally neat records. It will be a challenge, but I’m excited. 

It’s quite nice to talk with Pres. Hart, usually we speak english and its always refreshing. Him and Sis. Hart are really examples of Christ like, happy people. 

He did not say where I was going, but yes the first week of December, and ya its kinda sad. I know the people really well here! This past sunday we had tons of Inactive people at church that I have been working with, I was really happy to see some of the people back. I had kinda lost hope on one girl, she had a rough past and some of the people looked down on her, so she said to me a while ago that she wouldn’t go back, we stuck with her, but hadn’t gone to visit her for a while and she was there this Sunday!!! And went to the fireside that night too!!!! Ah I was soooo happy!!  

Well Kelly is doing good, and the family of Camila too. I am learning to really hate coffee! Camilas mom is having a really hard time giving it up!!! 

Well here we are working like crazy and have some more good people to teach. Last night I had a lesson that was truly guided by the Spirit, I honestly never taught  a first lesson the way i taught the one last night, but it was bold and it was with the Spirit. I truly know now that I was not called to be quiet and timid, but called to be bold in proclaiming the truth!!!  

     Our Savior said to us, "greater love hath no man then he  that layeth down his life for his friends" he that is found with charity in the last day shall be saved. Learn to love people, be nice to people and your friends and show your love for them by giving them the greatest gift given to all mankind, the message  of the restoration. It is a light to all in darkness, and we are all in darkness in this world. This young woman Camila was a special spirit that received and now has the great blessing of knowing about the Church of Jesus Christ, share this with your friends. That they are loved, and Our Heavenly Father has shown his love for us by restoring his Church on the Earth today. 

October 24, 1012

I want to share with you the power of fasting, I have been fasting a lot lately, usually its from one lunch to the next. and we have been having more success lately than in a long time, the members are excited, people are giving us references for their friends, its marvelous!! If we want a stronger relationship with are Father in Heaven, we have to do a little more, we have to really show our love and loyalty, quoting shakespeare President Monson said, "they do not love that do not show their love, so show your love for ´´the least of these, and verilty I say unto you that ye have done it unto me´´ said the Lord. 

http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#sharing-your-beliefs

Pres. Costa Pres. of the Presidency of the Seventy and also the area president of the SW of the States as well. General Authorities are a physical extension of the 12. It was incredible, they are special witness of Jesus Christ, and it shows. I got to shake his hand and everything. If there is anyone that can teach by the Spirit it is Pres. Costa!!! It was a great privledge to hear him speak to us. 

Remember my nearest temple is 16 hours by bus away, so take advantage of it! There is always work to do, every member has at least one calling, a missionary, so teach with the missionarys, be the people that say ya we can help teach that family with you, I will have just gotten home  from work but I can be there. For this past baptism, a member of the Bishopric was called last minute, in reality we organized the whole thing the day off, Camila said she wanted to get baptized, so we got it all ready, and when we called him, he had other stuff to do, but he said he would be there. We also had two other missionaries with us that day because we were doing that division, and he volunteered to feed them, that same day.

 Be these kind of people, no one asks but they just do. 

September 29, 2012 Letter to Mason

Mas said I could share some parts of Kyle's letter to him...

     Dude, I play soccer every week on P-Day with the young men here.  And they are good!  It's ridiculous!  We play barefoot too so it's a little different.  There is a mango tree on church grounds so during breaks we eat mangos which are sooo good here!
     I work out a little each morning but with a good 8-9 hours of working and walking all around the city I get pretty tired!
     Mom sent me a picture of you, Maddie, Emily and Nefi at Emily's birthday party.  Now I know why you are tying yourself down! :)  Ha, J/K I'm sure she's awesome if your sticking with her.  Tell her to write me a letter!  It's totally normal, other missionaries get letters from their brothers girlfriends all the time! :)
     Girls here are pretty I won't lie.  But it doesn't really phase me anymore.  Some of them we call snakes!  They are girls that only talk to the missionaries to flirt with them.  One time we were teaching this girl that was like 27 years old.  We could tell she wasn't too interested so we were going to close with a prayer and during the prayer she reached over and touched my head!  Pretty weird!  We haven't gone back after that!
     The work here is going good.  We are super busy.  We teach lots of people and usually I get home exhausted physically and mentally.  People are so close all the time.  We have to remind them that our goal is to help them be a happy family forever.  With a mom and a dad that love each other and kids that are happy.
   That's life in the field!
Com Abraco,
Elder Krause

October 10, 2012 "Chat"

Mom:  How is the teaching going?
Kyle:  We are close with a couple family's we just have to finish with them! The teaching is going good, also a lady is going to get married who has been going to church for  a year, waiting for her husband to say yes, so she will get baptized soon. I'm super glad too that its finally done. We are doing good!
A Prophet said one time, I'm not sure the exact words and I dont have my note book with me, "when you have the truth there is no need to fear." Thats the challenege here, getting people to really listen, then act, people will let us in and feed us, talk with us, thats easy, but the hardest part is to get them to listen to the feelings that come to them!!! I can see in their eyes, it makes sense, they know it! But people let the roar of the world drown us out, it is my job, to quiet this noise and say listen to the Holy Ghost, it is the job of every member.

One funny thing...A few weeks ago I ate the cartilage of a cows knee.  It was nasty but luckily the Sister understood and only gave me a little bite, but I tried it!  
Mom:  Did you get to watch conference?  Did you hear about the missionary age change?
Kyle:  I did but it was very hard to understand because it was translated into really proper Portuguese that we don't speak out here.  But I am listening to it in English right now and I am blown away! I cant believe it! I just told Davis, I think it was very inspired that this happened when it did, because I really liked my year at college!! But also I think this will be a great oppurtunity for everyone, we do indeed need the extra missionaries now. Also tell Emily she is going on a missionary now, this was soooo cool I started freaking about the sisters, this is huge!!!
Hey also you should read "And upon the Handmaids of the Lord will I pour out my Spirit" by Julie Beck.  I read it this week and I think you will really enjoy it.
 http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#the-will-of-god watch this mormon message, this is my favorite conference talk of all time, and I knew about it for a while now and it has been a great source of strenght for me. I am teaching Kelly about how to be a mother, and I think about you while I help her with her son, I just want to say thanks mom, for not giving up on me ever, even when I asked for it, you are the best and I love you very very much. 


***He didn't have much time so that's it for today!  

Kelly and Adrions Family

This is a recent convert family that is phenominal,

 Kelly and Adrion!

***VERY IMPORTANT***

     Well, the Executive Secretary called me today to discuss the "taxes" that Kyle is being charged on the packages that he has received.  Now keep in mind that all that I put in the packages was oreos, cake mix, mini candy bars, and some other random little snacks.  The total of EVERYTHING I sent him was probably $20.00 in each of the 2 boxes that I sent.  I spoke with Hailey and her box included similar stuff.  The 2 boxes I sent Kyle cost $50.00 a piece to send.  Now the Brazilian government is charging him...$75.00 US dollars PER BOX to pick them up.  I can't bear knowing he is that close to having the packages not to pay the taxes so I am paying them but I have to figure this out so I don't have to continue paying them.  $225.00 is too much for oreos and cake mix! :)

SO AT THIS TIME (UNTIL I CAN FIGURE OUT A BETTER SOLUTION) PLEASE DO NOT SEND KYLE ANY MORE PACKAGES!  


 I emailed Sis. Hart (the mission president's wife) to find out what's going on with the packages.  Here is her reply...

Dear Sister Krause,

 

I am so sorry for the less than adequate mail situation our mission mother's are faced with in trying to get packages to their missionaries! It is very frustrating. There is no rhyme or reason as to why some packages arrive without problems and why some get confiscated and "held for ransom" at the correiros (post office). One of our Elder's parents sent a part to an artificial foot he wears only to have it taxed over a thousand dollars when it arrived. It really does make me angry! President Hart and I have had to pay our share of these senseless "taxes" on some of the packages our kids have sent us. I really believe it is a matter of corruption in the government here. I'm sorry I can't advise you as to whether it helps to itemize everything that's in the package or if it's better to just give a vague idea, such as "snacks." Our secretary said that one of the things that seems to make a difference is NOT to pay for the most expensive insurance to send the package, or they think it is something very valuable, and decide it needs to be taxed. Another thing that some of the mother's have done that I have noticed is to send the package with a lot of Catholic stickers on it, and I guess they will respect it. I don't know if that's a failproof idea, but it may help. I wish I could give you better answers, but we really are at the mercy of a mail system that leaves a lot to be desired. President Hart told me that when he served a long time ago in Brazil, the parents were told not to send any packages because they were constantly stolen and broken into. I hate to do that, because packages are such a highlight for our missionaries to receive. 

 

I've asked our Executive Secretary to give you a call and let you know the status and cost on your packages right now, and see if you want to pay the fee. He is also going to check to see if he can learn any other information on how to avoid the taxes.

 

Sincerely,

 

Sister Hart  

Also, the Executive Secretary told me that the mission President asked him to send out the following guidelines that might help with sending packages.  I am going to try these and see if it makes a difference and I will let everyone know when it's ok to send another package.

Some tips to avoid taxes when sending boxes to Brazil:

• Big boxes are usually taxed, but be sure to see if it’s really worth to send everything in small boxes because sometimes it’s more expensive to send lots of small boxes than pay the taxes on one big. 

• The cheaper the better, the cheapest freightage used to send the boxes is usually the one with less probability to be taxed, for example: USPS Express has a lot more probability to be taxed than USPS Priority which is also a lot more probable to be taxed than First Class mail or other type of freight that can’t be tracked. If you choose the companies DHL, FedEx ,UPS or TNT the taxing is 100 % sure, due to the Brazilian legislation, those companies must receive the taxes in advance and the sending’s are always taxed, even gifts under 50 dollars, books and  medications. Another very important thing is not to put insurance on the boxes, although it’s safer, it also greatly increases the probability for the box to be taxed and sometimes, they even tax according to the insurance, completely ignoring what’s inside the box.

• Gifts under 50 dollars should not be taxed if sent from individual to individual, if you buy on EBay and the sending is from an enterprise to an individual, even if the enterprise mark it as a gift and under 50 dollars it might be taxed.

• Boxes with logos of brands like Ralph Lauren, Lacoste and similar are like flags asking for attention on the customs, if possible, please send the materials in regular boxes that don’t call too much attention.

• Declare everything that’s on the box but don’t be too specific about it, sometimes being specific can raise the price of the taxes, for example, if you are sending a GPS, declare it as a GPS device, don’t waste your time saying brand or model, this can raise the price on the taxes and cause problems. 

• The greater volume of boxes arriving the less probability for your box to be taxed, this is due to the big number of boxes and the lower number of inspectors, so it might be a good strategy do send boxes on periods when lots of people are sending too like Christmas and big festivals.

• Please be wise and don’t do things like putting 5 objects in a box and only declaring 2, that is a federal crime and the receiver of the box might be called to explain the situation in the court. That is not worth it and the church does not agree with that kind of behavior.

September 18, 2012 4:58pm

Hey ok real quick with respect to pacackages, you need to declare everything that is in there and not send enything expensive. Also do not buy insurance, because the gov. here will go through everybox, and check stuff and if it is not declared ti will probably be taxed. I got two packages today one from Hailey, and one from you mom.  Thank you very much I loved it! It was soooo cool to get all that stuff it will make for good snacks!!!! HOWEVER I received a call from the secrataries that I had two boxes, that had a huge tax on them. I don't have nearly enough money to pay the tax so I told him to just leave them and they will send them back to you guys. I am not sure if they were they two boxes I got today or what, but let me know if you guys sent other ones or what, we can work it out next pday but ya. 
So we just got back into town, My new comp is Elder Bassi de São Paulo, yes indeed he speaks only portugues so I will indeed learn alot more this transfer as far as portugues, but he is really chill I like him alot! I will send pictures of the baptism next week too! 
Well I love you!!! 
Com abraço 
Elder krause 

September 18, 2012 4:50am

Hey mom! 
     Well I will just shoot a quick email off to you real quick and mayber try later on in the day if I can, but I have a lot of traveling to do and at the beginning of transfers there is a lot to do.
      By the way just a quick up date I am doing very well, my next companion is ELder Bassi he is a paoulista so I'm really going to all portuguese here soon enough, I am sad to see Elder Curtis go he was a great trainor and missionary but his time has come, unfortunately.                      Also we had a baptism in our ward!!! I will send pictures next week cause I don't really have time now, got to catch the bus, but a mother and son that we were teaching got baptized and it was awesome! I was a little worried that she would need a lot of ward support but she bore a powerful testimony at the Baptsim and I know that she soon will be a support for the ward!
     Well I hope everyone is doing well there. I love you all Keep reading the Book of Mormon! i néfi capitulo 14:12-15 be one of the people of The Lord so when the times comes you can be armored in the Glory and power of God! We do this through reading the Book of Mormon!

tchao  com abraço Elder Krause 

September 11, 2012 "Chatting"

Mom: Hey handsome! How is your week going?  Did you have zone conference and did you get your packages yet?
Kyle:  I did have my zone conference but I didn't get any packages yet. I did get tons of letters though!!!  I will be going to Salvador next week for transfers so hopefully I will get them then.
Mom:  How far is it to Salvador and do you ride the bus there?  Is it expensive to take the bus?So since your companion is going home will you go to Salvador with him and then come back with a new companion?
Kyle:  It's about 3 hours to Salvador from Serrinha.  We go into Feira de Santanna, which is about half way to Salvador, for our zone conferences.  I'm not sure how transfers go but Elder Curtis thinks I will go with him then come back with someone new.  We have a meeting Monday morning in Deira to see who is getting transferred to where and what not.   Yes, we ride the bus.  It's not expensive at all.  That's how people travel here.  
Mom:  So since you only get letters every few weeks do you space out reading them or read them all at once?
Kyle:  I read them all on the bus I am so excited to get them!  But it takes me a couple pdays to write back to all of them.
Kyle:  Did I tell you about the member of the 70's that came and spoke at our stake conference? 
So we went into Feira for stake conference and it was really really cool, this was a powerful 70 that spoke, he spoke about eternal marriage, and well marriage in general and everyone even kids like teenagers liked it! He told the story of a woman who moved to australia and married a non member who was at first a good guy but then turned really really nasty. 
To the point where she was going to leave him with her kids, and she was living in a place in Australia where there was no church. She went into the city one time for a church meeting where Pres. Monson, who was then one of the 12 was speaking. They conversed and made a plan, he was going to send her all the instruction material for the primary and the priesthood, manuals and what not and she was to teach her kids in the home and leave the priesthood manuals out for him to find. Years later Pres. Monson was again in Australia and was speaking in a Priesthood session telling this story, a man raised his hand and Pres. Monson paused then let him speak and he said he was that man! Now he was a worthy Priesthood holder active in the church, then he told about the patience and love that his wife had for him. The Proclamation to the family was also something he talked about that was powerful but that story was really cool i liked it !
Mom:  Oh man, what a neat story!  I'm so happy you are so blessed to have the opportunity to hear such powerful speakers.  So in my scripture study I came across the scripture 1 Nephi 7:12. I wrote it on a sticky and put it on my bathroom mirror and I read it everyday.  Also 1 Nephi 7:17 the part that says According to my faith which is in the, wilt thou...and then I insert whatever it is that I am seeking help with. I have those side by side on my mirror to remind myself that I will be given the help I need according to my faith. You should post them on your mirror too.
Kyle: Mom you should study Lehis dream too, it's unimaginable, beautiful and perfect in teaching people! The very next chapter! I just looked up those two scriptures! Good ones. Think about this too, that how did Néfi convince Ismael to bring his family out into the wilderness, and be put with the task of getting the plates?  Also the Lord sent them back to Jerusalem for two things, pretty much the Bible, (the records) and wives. Look at how important marriage is to the Lord. I just noticed that this week and thought it was kinda cool, I study a lot of 1 néfi because lots of people read that one! 
i will indeed post those on my wall! Ha we post a lot of motivational stuff up on the wall. I'll send you pictures next week but a lot of it is in português.
Mom:  I wanted to tell you this before you tell me you have to go.  Always know that there isn't anywhere on earth I would rather you be right now than serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  I know that not only are you touching the lives of others but you are being shaped into the man that our Father in Heaven wants you to be.  And the husband and father that you are supposed to be.  I know that you could not become that person without this time of service and growth.  The growth that is happening and will continue to happen to you spiritually during this 2 years will last you a lifetime.  Now do I miss you...of course.  Do I miss you like crazy...even more!!!  BUT...I am truly comforted by the spirit everyday in knowing who you are serving.  Remember the board in our house..."As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."  Thank you for being such a great example to your Mason and Emily.  They love you so much.  I want to you know that I really do know that this is the only true church on the earth today and I feel so blessed to have a son that is faithfully serving to bring others into the fold.  I love you soo much you can't even begin to know!!!  Always hold your head high and serve with vigor!!!
Kyle: Thanks mom, I love you so much! It makes me feel extremely comforted to hear a powerful strong testimony like yours! I haven't hear a testimony in English in a while!. Speaking of which I bore my testimony in Sacrament this week!  
Well I love you and I gotta go.  I probably won't be on next week because tranfers are on Pday and I'll be gone to Salvador.  So I'll talk to you in 2 weeks!

September 4, 2012 Random Questions...

Mom:  You mentioned that it was cold there right now.  Do you need me to send you some warm clothes?  Do you wear your suit to help you stay warm?
Kyle: hahahaha, no I do not need any warm clothes! It's just like Arizona here except more hot and less cold, my sweater is fine and no do not send me any warm clothes I will not need them come two weeks! It's just funny.  No I don't wear my suit. It's too hot usually just on sundays, its only cold in the early morning but by 8 its hot! 
Mom:  Do you think you are losing or gaining weight? 
Kyle:I think I am staying the same, I eat all the time, but then again we walk and work like crazy.  Usually medium size breakfast, then a huge lunch with members then nothing but a snack maybe till we get home. The members here are great! Most of them love the missionaries, they always feed us, we usually have someone for lunch or if not they are pretty good at giving us money. It is a ward of about 100 active members.  We have a good group right now of people to teach, and if we are not teaching we are talking to people and people here love to talk!
Mom:  what are you going to do today?

Kyle:we are going to play some soccer at the church with the young men, going to shop around at a market here, make some pancakes maybe and ya thats about it, we usually just kinda chill on pday sleep and clean.

Mom:  What's the industry in your city?  What do people do there?  Do you think your are going to stay there when transfers happen in 2 weeks?  Your companion is going home right?  Is he excited or nervous?

Kyle: The industry uh not sure, a lot of construction. Brazil is growing like crazy now! And my city this week is home to like a huge party called vaquejada, its like  rodeo but bigger, people rent their houses out and everything, I am about to experience my first real brazil party week, cause people say that the whole city goes nuts for like 4 days, but we will see E. Curtis doesn't think it will be that bad. People work out of town sometimes, lots of moto taxis, markets things like that. I think I will be staying. Usually only one missionary leaves during transfers cause its a little difficult to send two missionaries that haven't been to that area before to start off fresh.He is pretty scared haha and everytime someone asks how much time we have on the mission he just says a long time. So ya its sad, and its kinda weird for me, cause I have so much longer, but my companion is leaving idk its odd, but Im glad cause I have a lot to learn to get to E. Curtis level 

Mom: Any package requests?

Kyle:  Oreos, the ones with pink filling, peanut butter, Spitz (any flavor except dill pickle).  They don't have sunflower seeds here!  Any random snacks are good.  Big Hunks!

Mom: How are your shoes holding up with all that walking?

Kyle:The shoes are holding up great the really are awesome shoes! Walking all day on cobblestone is hard on everyones feet except brazilians they  do it in flip flops, its crazy and cool cause they really wear flip flops everywhere! Construction workers wear them, they ride motorcycles with them ah man its crazy! 

Mom:  I'm impressed that your washing your sheets! :)

Kyle:hahaha thanks! I wash them pretty frequently and I clean pretty good every pday, during the week it gets a little messy but I do indeed clean a lot more than I used too! Last time I washed my sheets  in the morning then when we got back that night they were still in the washer so I had to iron them to get them somewhat dry then I slept with somewhat damp sheets, so i learned my lesson to make sure I wash my sheets on pday!

Ok well I got to go but I love you guys and hope that everyone has a good week! Look at the plan of slavation and really think about it cause when you do it makes a lot of sense, and as with everything it demonstrates the love that Our Loving Heavenly Father has for us. 

September 4, 2012

Hanging out at the kitchen table.

 This is the Dr.'s house that is right next door to ours.  We live in a nice part of town.

 This is my bed.  My sheets are in the wash.  

 This is our kitchen.  That's the fridge and freezer on the right and pantry on the left.

 This is where I study.  Those beds piled up on the left is actually our couch.

This is our laundry room.  We wash our clothes in the machine and then hang them out to dry.

August 28, 2012

Hello Everyone,

     It was a good week that flew by we lost one day because of the zone conference and it was gone like that! But we got a lot of work done and we got some good investigators to church and people are progressing so that is very exciting! I dont have too many interesting things from this week, one is that we are going to try and start learning capuera, eesh im not sure how to spell it but it is a martial art here that originated in bahia and we have some investigators that do it so we are going to watch tonight and will maybe take a short lesson when we have time, but thats doubtful, we never have tons of time. But thats a good thing! Something that was really funny we were walking to our next appointment and is started to rain, and there was one lady on the street walking towards us, and I wanted to talk to her, so I asked Elder CUrtis if spring or fall was coming next, down here spring is coming because we are in winter right now. So I stopped her and asked her when spring started and so we talked about the weather for a bit, then we talked about the church and she had some qestions so we answered them and invited her to church and that was it! Afterwards Elder Curtis says to me what would you do if someone stopped you on the street and asked you when spring started and I started busting up it just seemed like a good question at the time, but ya, it was good and the lady was very nice! I also can now say I really am a Krause, I was hungry one night and didnt really know what to eat, we didnt really have any snacks but the sisters had left a little bit of un popped popcorn, so I popped it and I have been eating popcorn ever since, I eat it all the time now, so mason and emily you guys can be proud I finally have developed a taste for popcorn! And the half popped ones really are the best! Something kinda funny at the zone conference President talked a little about the upcoming election which I had kinda forgotten about, but he said there are two people running, Mitt Romney and Obama.  He talked a little about how we can vote absentee, then he said I am not going to tell you who to vote for, but I will say one of them was a stake president, and it wasnt Obama! It made me chuckle.

      Well read the Book of Mormon, I studied the story of Nephi cutting off Labans head and I know that everyone knows that story but read it again and put yourself in Nephi's shoes, ask the question how would I know what to do and how would I follow the guidance of the spírit, the story will come to life!!! I love you all and I hope everyone has a good week! 

This is me and my second companion Elder Probst from Rio grande do sul brazil

 My Brazilian District at the MTC

   This is how I study!!!

 This is my and Elder Curtis my comp now and also trainer on top of the serrihna, that means little hill in portugues, and the city is named Serrihna because of the little hill by it you can kinda see the city in the back ground it was a foggy day.

 This is me Elder Jensen, Sis Stewart and Waite (left) and Sis Johnson is behind me, we were in the CTM pointing at our missions, roughly. 

This is me cooking! It is indeed cold in the morning and no I dont have any warm clothes except that sweater I found at the mtc!

August 22, 2012

 Hey everyone,
     I had my first zone conferenfce yesterday and it was phenominal, we had to travel into feita and met up with probably 40 other missionaries, Pres and Sis Hart were there and they gave us tons of good training and motivation, to baptize!!!! ALso sis hart gave a great talk on Lehi´s dream, which was really cool because we had talked to a woman we are teaching about that the day before. This week is week three in the transfer and is a critical week, so me and Elder Curtis decided to become crazy people this week "dâ um jeitem" find a way cause we are going to baptize someone soon and we are going to fill our little chapel to the brim with people this Sunday! So the work is going well we are working very hard, contacting lots of people everyday. I would like to share an experience that was really cool. First everyone needs to go read the 20 marc note talk by Elder Bednar. I was thinking of the talk monday night as we were walking home, and we told each other we needed to meet our goal for contacts that day. It was about 8:30pm, not the best time for contacts, but we had to do it! So we are walking down the street trying to fill our goal, be good little Elders, and I see a man walking down the street, and I said lets go talk to this guy, kinda thinking to myself that it would be a forced contact, we would invite him to church and he would walk away, but thats a contact and everyone deserves an invite, I was only trying to do what I had been told, talk to everyone! So I walk up to him, and I just came to say we were lost, and we asked a little about this street, ( we actually had a pretty good idea where we were but we were in an area we had not really worked in) and it flowed right into asking about the church (cause it was on that same street but way across town) then we asked him if he had heard of it, and he said yes and that he actually had a copy of the Book of MOrmon (which was good cause we didnt have one we were out of Books!) so we got excited and asked him about it and he said that he wasn't super religous but was very curious and that was why he started reading it, but had stopped just cause things had come up. This is what is called a loito, not really sure why we give them that name, but it means a golden person for the GOspel!!! If people have a open mind, like to read, and already have a Book Of MOrmon, they will find the Church to be True very quickly, in general. We are going to visit him soon this week, but I would like to quote and relate to Elder Bednar in this situation, in the moment, did I know what I was doing? kinda I was just trying to make a contact, fulfill a goal, (Behind every number is a person dont think I am totally heartless just focusing on numbers cause I am not!) but after a long day, I was just trying to talk to a guy, had no idea what I was going to say, just trying to be good. Looking back was it a spiritual prompting to talk to him YES! did I know that then NO! So like Elder Bednar says (read the talk!) dont worry about grand manifestations, or if you are feeling guided by the spirit or yourself, be a good boy, be a good girl, keep your covenants, and you will indeed be guided by the Spirit, thats the beauty of the Spirit, he is there and we dont even know it! Also my companion was a crazy man that night, I have never heard anyone teach Lehis dream like he did. Deus não creu pessaos  fracos e forças, não fies isso, há pessoas que segura o barro de ferro, e pessoas que não segura o barro de ferro! it sounds better in português so you guys can translate that, but its true, and life is easy when we read the Book of MOrmon, doesnt mean trials wont come, but the book of MOrmon is the power to overcome! 

            Ok cool stories now we get rain storms here everyday that are usually 20 minutes long then stop, but they happen every day about three times a day, so its pretty cool we have had overcast days mostly this week! It had been sooo nice!!!! 

     Also thanks to Amanda and roommates, I got you letter at zone conference and it was awesome!!! Also MOm, Dad, and Erin you guys are awesome too cause I got all you letters. Also Joe, Marites, Connor, Leilani, Austin, and Nika thanks for the card! I had so much mail it was aweseome!!! Letters are coming but just know, it will be a little while, but thanks so much it was really cool to get tons of mail yesterday!!! Emily and Mason, when I am getting letters from Erin and not you what is going on? Ha just teasing but that was kinda funny. 

     well thats about it here in good ole Serrinha Bahia, send me an update of what all is going on there! Shout out to Davis for going to the MTC THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dallas, TX watchout here comes Elder ..................... Pearson!!!!!! Ah I cant wait to hear about that!!! Tear it up man!!! 

     oh ya the lan house that we are at this week does not have a card reader so next week I will send pictures with my emails I'll have some good ones. As far as packages go, if you guys want to send me one that would be awesome!!!!! Things that would be cool but I will really love anything! Cake mixes the ones here are not good plain, yes I did indeed try it, chocolate, any kinda of candy! oreos, the ice cream kind or cotton candy kinds I can't really remember which but the pink ones, you know that were soooo good! And ya idk you guys send good stuff but thats just a few things, 

     Guys I really cant tell you how much I Love you, read the Book of Mormon, everyday and it will make all the difference, the killer thing  with investigators is they say they want happiness in life, and the source of the greatest happiness we could ever imagine is right in our hands!!!!! and some people dont read it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so read it love it! I love you all! 

com amor e abraços 

Elder Krause 

Second half of Kyle's email from last week...

     Well i have a little more times it turns out , Pres Hart is pretty lax with how much time we go to email. 
     We were going to have a soccer game with the young men today at the church but it has been raining all day so I think we are going to cancel. The kids love to play soccer here, before I left são paulo I bought a ball and a pump, they were kinda spendy I am thinking in reis now! LOL  But that pump has been a great thing, cause no one here has one and balls always need pumped up, so I pump  up a ball for some kids, then juggle really quick and they love it ah its pretty cool!. People play alot here there are fields all over the place! lots of people do judo too, its either soccer or judo. 
     Believe it or not it has been a little cold in the morning here, its is about like AZ in the winter, and it is winter here. 
Mom you would go a little nuts there are a lot of flies here! But I keep our house pretty dang clean so we dont really have them too bad there.
      I have to be pretty frugal, I get 125 reis every two weeks, they have about the same value of the dollar here, but in the world dollars are way more valuable but that doesn't really matter cause I'm in the middle of Brasil!  People are incredibly relaxed here. A lot of time we end up talking to people on the street just sitting there watching people walk by. Lots of people in no hurry at all just enjoying life. It is really nice here I love being a missionary, especially after some days where we have  taught a bunch of lessons with some good people then ah I get so excited! We are indeed working really hard! I get back the the house each night pretty beat, but thats good. 
    Elder Curtis is great! He is from Oregon and actually went to BYU for a year too and lived in Heritage. It is kinda wierd to think that he will be going home and I am just starting! Ah but its good, there are so many cool places here, my area is one ward in I think 3 or 4 stakes in Bahia. Idk I can't remember but I have some cool places that i will be working in!       
        Serrihna is awesome we have a small chapel here, a bit older, but it is indeed a ward. There is also another member, the first conselor in the bishopric that is outstanding here helps us a lot and is always so excited to see us. The members here really just blow me away so amazing!  We have lunch at members houses. That is the big meal of the day, so big that there is a very in portugues for eating lunch. Then for dinner we sometimes get something quick from a member or eat a little something when we get home. I cook eggs, rice, and oatmeal.  I think I am going to branch out but for this first week I just wanted something easy. I make rice patties pretty often and rice with milk cinnamon and sugar. Also mom remember that time for ilke a year we lived on powdered milk? And I didn't like it? Well I am learning to like it because that is pretty much all we have here for milk, except i think a member one time gave us milk from his cow. I'm not really sure he talked so fast I couldn't understand him but he acted it out and I got it was from a cow, so ya he poured in some nescao (nesquik stuff) and we drank it! it was not bad but definetly different from our milk back home. 

      Pops theres not much for dentist down here and peole have some jacked up teeth!! Not too bad, only some peope have it really bad. I have only seen one dentist office in the whole town! Also construction here is nuts! People in this certian bairro (neighborhood) have pretty uniform houses, all built by the government, but people build walls to surround their houses usually from bricks, ( they also build some houses that are like 3 stories high with these bad boys) then they have like a big metal gate. One door we called on the guy opened his gate and in his front yard which was 40 sq feet maybe he had a massive hole!! He was putting in a water reserve! It was kinda funny, but ya peeple have some pretty crazy houses. I'll have to send some pictures, and also our neighbors the doctor. Its a little ridiculus 2 story mansion with a pool, and electric fence!  In the midst of a lot of houses that are really about 300 sq feet. People are really happy here. One lady here we are teaching she lives with her daughter and son in law who are members, she gave us pineapple upside down cake that was phenominal. I am not sure if you rmember but I tried pineapple upside down cake once and didn't like it but I do now!!!!!! ok well I love you guys if you have any other questins ask away! and Ill tty next week at 1230!
Elder Krause

I just have to clarify...

So what Kyle is referring to in his letter is that a couple weeks ago his pday got changed and I didn't know it so he wasn't able to get one the computer on his usual day.  Well I started freaking out because the week before he had told me he was sick.  Well as the day went on and I didn't hear from him I really started freaking out and...don't laugh...I got super worried that he had died and they didn't want to tell us or that he had gone out for pday and gotten kidnapped and they didn't know where he was!
  Oh my, I know I'm crazy!!!  So I emailed the MTC and asked them to let me know that he was OK.  Yes, the next morning I got the email from him that they had changed his Pday.  So lesson learned for me!!!  I had to tell him that story because I knew he would get a good laugh picturing my freak out!!!  Man I love that kid!

August 14, 2012 ~ Week 1 ~ In the field

Hey mom!!!! Dad!!! Emily and mason!!!!

    Ok so first week in the field done!!! It already feels like I have been here forever it is so easy to get lost in the work. I love it the people here are great especially the members! Currently I am serving in a city called Serrinha it is about 2 hours by bus outside of Salvador and me and my new comp Elder Curtis are the only missionaries from this town, so we have a lot of work to do. We got here at about one in the morning last Tuesday and a member came and picked us up. Those particular members have been a great help in teaching an giving rides! Not many people have cars here and we walk a lot! Which is good, I don't mind it but we can get lot more done when we get a ride. They also always feed us when we pass by. We are currently teaching three family's, two kids and trying to teach the mom she is really nice and likes us but is always working so we will see with her.
      I can speak portuguese well, well more or less, its coming, my problem is understanding,  but I am getting better with each day. No one speaks a lick of English here! It is coming along very well though. The food for the most part has been really good. The members feed us well, but with all the walking we do it seems like I eat so much more now. Food is good, nothing too crazy yet. I will share when I get a funny story. 
    So my comp, this is his last transfer so he will be going home in a few weeks! Crazy he is a beast and speaks and understands portuguese very well. 
     Mom hahahha I knew you would be worried but I couldn't really get to a computer, but I am fine! I hope you got my email last Tuesday, I sent that real quick from presidents house. And yes I did get a good laugh out of the story cause I can see it happening. Don't worry so far I am feeing great my flu was pretty lame, but didn't keep me down for long, no they didnt say anything, but Sis Degn the wife of the CTM PRes, and ELder Adams the doc at the ctm came and visited me when I was sick which was really nice. 
     Health wise, I can't believe I never went to bed on time before cause I love it now! I can pop up and get so much done! Safety wise, this town is very chill. The dogs are a little scary at night but they do not bother us much. Elder Curtis has never gotten robbed and so ya not too worried about it but we are definetly very careful and follow the guidance of the spirit as best as we can. Next Pday (Tuesday) I will be on at the same time about 12:30 my time here in Serrinha Bahia so we can email. Try and get Tylers mail address, I'm unsure about if we can email other missionarys, my mission president said to only email family, I didn't have a chance to ask him about other missionarys. 
     Keep the letters coming! I only get them about once a month though because they all go to the mission house, then to us. I don't even really know my own address here in town, it is on a dirt road, and  just a small little house . We live right next to a doctor though and his house is like the nicest house in town pretty cool. Most houses here a quite humble and the people even more humble, very nice and many are prepared to hear the gospel.

       Something really good here is the juice members really make it fresh right in front of us and it is soooooooo good!!! Maracuja is one that is in season and I don't think we have it in the US but we have it here all the time and is is great. The key board I am typing on really is horrible so that is why there are a lot of errors.  Funny story one lunch this week we had lasagna it was soooo good, people here love it! They eat spaghetti here almost everyday not as the main dish but as kinda a supplement. But this lady also poured us some orange soda, and dad this makes me think of you cause as she filled up mine I saw 5 little black dots, and sure enough there were ants in my orange drink! Wanting to be polite though I just drank it and didn't drink the ants. SKILLS!!! Anyways I hope everyone is doing well I love you all and I'll talk to you next pday!

Oh and could you also send me Davis's mission address? Thanks mom!

I love you guys

com abraço Élder Kraüse

Ready to get to work!

What a treat!!!

Dear Krause Family,

We were delighted to welcome your son, Elder Krause, to the Brazil Salvador Mission on Tuesday, August 8. We can report that he looked great and had a smile on his face as we greeted him at the airport. We spent a wonderful afternoon together with him and our other new missionaries visiting over a Bahian lunch.  Afterwards we spent a few hours giving them important training and finally introduced them to their new companions who had been excitedly waiting all day to meet the missionary they would get to train. We shared dessert together and then sent them all off to their new areas to begin their great missionary adventure.

We’re excited to work with your son in this important calling to share the gospel. We love him already and appreciate his desire to serve the Lord and the people of Brazil, in this the “best mission in the world.” Thank you for supporting him. Your positive e-mails and letters will be so important for his success as a missionary.  

We will do our best to meet his physical and spiritual needs while he is away from your care for these two years.

With love and appreciation,

President and Sister Hart