Heeeyyy there! 

Email will be fun today, because for sure I have a boatload to tell! Well... I got transferred!! It’s official, I am here in Fortaleza. I will be serving in the ward Castelão. Google Castelão, supposedly it is where some of the World Cup games are going to be played! It is kinda crazy, it is right down the street and it is MASSIVE. So just about every day now I will be passing by that. It is seriously like 3 blocks away from my new house.

So the new Comp is actually a fun story. His name is Elder McLaws. He actually arrived in my zone Juazeiro last transfer right before Christmas. He was a district leader so the zone leaders did divisions with him, and he lived with some Elders in our district so we did divisions there. So I actually knew him pretty well. He actually has a little bit of roots there in Cache Valley. His said he was raised there until age 8 and then moved to Oregon. He then came back for college; Go Aggies Go Aggies HEY HEY HEY! (I also worked with his sister a little bit at the Pita Pit, small world) So on the brutal bus ride here last night we ended up sitting/sleeping next to each other, little did we know we’d be companions the next day! Lol. It doesn’t seem like we are real companions and that we are just on a division right now. But he is pretty chill, same group as Elder Hodson. A very calm guy.

Anyways, we are opening an area, which means we are starting from nothing. Ha, kinda like last area. It looks like we are taking care of two wards. So Mom, and Family. I WILL NEED YOUR PRAYERS. Pray so that we can get the work rolling here. That we can get our feet steadied. Pray that I can fill the missionary pants and that I can replace all fear with faith and that I can do all the things that a missionary does. This will be my transfer where I shift from junior to senior. So there is that. I'll let you know how it goes this next week. It will be interesting.

Dude, who won the Super Bowl? 49er’s? Ha, I’m sure I’ll find out by next week. But how was my last week? It was good! Elder Hodson had surgery on his toe. So we swung by the hospital a lot this week to clean that up. So the work got a little bit slow, but it was a little weird to be making new investigators that I will never see again. Elder Hodson taught me this week that to be a good leader and a good missionary, the secret is to just be happy with the people and to make sure the missionaries are happy. It’s simple but it is true.

The miracle of the week is this picture that I sent here. My last Sunday, ALL my recent converts were there at church. (Except Agnaldo, who had work but I will never worry about him becoming inactive) That is rare. It really touched my heart. I was lucky enough to bear my last testimony in fast meeting, and I gave my last lesson which was on the creation. I had everyone say one thing that they were grateful for on this EARTH. Ha, but it turned into everyone just saying how grateful they are for the gospel in their lives, and how grateful they are for the missionaries... ha, and me! It was perfect. Donizete is going to get a calling; Cícero and Frank got the Aaronic Priesthood. WOW. I am so grateful for the opportunity to help the Lord with all this work.

ALSO! My last night I had the biggest surprise of my life! Ha, I have never had a surprise party before and I had no clue that this one was coming. So yeah, the same family that celebrated Christmas and New Years with us, offered to give me a ride with my bags to the bus stop. So their son picked me up a little early with everyone, and he said he had to grab something real quick in the house, so I went in just to say goodbye to Ivana and Urandy and SURPRISE!! Cake and everything inside waiting for me. Wow, I was so loved there. I love my mission. I want to be able to leave all my areas and my mission itself like this. I couldn’t of asked for better. 

Well, it is great to hear from you all. I will send a little bit more about Juazeiro and it’s impact next week, mmkay?

Muito obrigado, e eu am vocês!

-Elder Cetraro

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February 25th 

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How is it going?! So I think it is funny that your week was slow as well. This last week seemed a little dreary here. So I got sick about 4-5 days ago and it is just kinda funny how much of a grump I kinda become when I am sick. Haha, I am willing to do the work every day, it is just my patience dies and if there are any difficulties, it is just a little harder to endure them.  Good news is, I think I am healthy again now.

I don’t remember if I told you but last week I went through all my journaling of 2012 and yeah it was awesome. I thought I would make a special entry of the things I am grateful for and yeah I filled up 13 pages I think. Ha, I finished that this week. Now I think this week I will do goals....for my full year in the mission. Have any fun ideas for me?

So what exciting things are happening down here?  I think it is really cool, especially this week that we can have these people that were so close to being baptized, but it doesn’t go right, so we end up cutting them, and leave them super prepared for another future missionary. But the Lord is so nice to us and we find new golden contacts to replace their spot of baptism. It is cool though because our Zone is really doing well, like some of the best in recent history. The ward is amazed that we are holding baptisms every week and each week we have at least 20 visitors, and I hear that the other area’s are doing well also. So that is pretty exciting. Also, for me, I can hear the time ticking for when I get transferred. I can’t promise that I will. But I am pretty sure February 4th I’m heading up to Fortaleza! Ha, the actual mission! It is going to be like arriving in a new mission all over again because I hear it is a whole new world up there!

Alrighty, muito amor!

-Elder Cetraro

MOM!!  I’m so proud of you!

You are fulfilling your goal! Yesss!! That makes me soo happy! You are the best investigator I have, Parabéns! Ha but really, that is great. I am more and more convinced that the Book of Mormon is one of the most powerful tools that God has given us to bring the spirit. I know that even though sometimes our little efforts to study the gospel don’t seem like much, Heavenly Father takes note and will send more of his spirit and love in our lives. Ha at this rate you are probably going to beat me reading the Book of Mormon. I started in October Cap to Cap and now I am at Alma 34 (goood chapter) no Livro de Mórmon. It’s been really funny, I am somewhat addicted to reading!

Wow. 200 days already eh? I remember when you told me about 100 days when I first arrived here in Juazeiro. Wow! Goes by quick eh? (I am pleased to tell you that I am struggling to type in English, I keep on thinking in Portuguese) Talking about journals, I think this year has been my best year at keeping a journal. Ha this last week I pulled out my College journal that I brought with me and I have been reading about 2012. WOW, what a year it has been! I don’t think I could ask for a better year. My year was PACKED even though half of it was normal life.

By the way, if you could post this on Facebook, that would be great. "My 2012. Trained the next generation of Ski/Snowboarding Olympiads. Had a second home at the U. Watched all 7 seasons of "How I Met Your Mother". Partied through the Pita Pit, a Dirty Thirty, a Silent, an Irish Pub, a Vegas High School Formal dance. Crowd surfed at the Festival of Colors and surfed for reals the shores in San Diego. CALI ROAD TRIP.  Lived through my 40 day Facebook lent (and then another 6 months) Fun Hot Tubbin Nights. Fell in love with running (I use to hate it). Played my fair share of Volleyball. Earned my Associate’s of Science at UVU. Returned to the Pit and the Pool. Had some epic golf matches with the Cetraros, the Fam, and friends, Yaaahooo! Had my first time landing in a plane. Explored Hawaii and all it’s wonders. Scaled the Wellsville mountains and beheld the Land of my Childhood. Left the country for the first time, became fluent in Portuguese, born and raised in Juazeiro do Norte, have seen many miracles, and have grown more than I could ever possibility imagined spiritually and in life skills serving an LDS Mission in Fortaleza Brazil. Wow, 2012 although the world didn’t come to an end, you would of went out with a BANG!"

Wooo... That will probably be my biggest post ever on FB but it will make up for the lost 6 months. Ooooh yeah. So guess what?  My Christmas package got sent back home. Slackers here in Fortaleza. So I hear just send them in smaller packages and say that it is filled with missionary supplies and not expensive things or they will hold it hostage again. Ridiculous huh? I did get one package from Gma Ronda. oooh myyy gosh tell her muito obrigado for the pod. (She sent him fitted bed sheets) With my sheets that would come undone every day I gave up on fixing that, and then I gave up on keeping the other parts of my room, and then I gave up on keeping my desk tidy, and then my brain gets all untidy, and then I can’t sleep as well in the night. It is amazing what a nice made bed can do for you! Also thanks for the chique ties and that (Cache Valley) calendar, OMG. I was showing everyone how pretty my home is and yeah. Thanks for the Trunkeza (home-sickness)

We had another baptism, Frank. He knew the Church before a year ago but once his girlfriend left him he texted us begging to get baptized. I really have been seeing so many miracles. God Exists. I see his Hand in my work everyday. I am so blessed and I can’t believe how I am receiving daily miracles. I blame Prayer =) and other things of course but it was definitely a week of miracles! Alrighty. That’s all I got this week. You are the best and I love you! Ciao ciao!

-Elder Cetraro

Hey Dad! Happy Holidays, sounds like it has been great for you guys! Vamos Ver?!  I never got to speak much Portuguese with ya, I wanted to n stuff. But it is all cool.

Thank you for the mission experience. I have been waiting a long time for that. What mission was it again? It is crazy how our faith gets us baptisms.

Anyway, in Mom’s email I talked about a dance party right? Well I thought it was funny that day, because I had a discussion with my comp about the Color Code. My Comp is a pure RED. It is ridiculous, I don’t think I have ever met a red like him. He is suuuper ambitious, ha! And I talked about how in our house we have one of each color. But I still feel like my yellow doesn’t really show a lot, but it was funny because that night my yellow burst and I was the most social person there!

How is your book coming along? I also thought it was cool I gave a message last night on goals. I wanted to do something different and I thought it was cool what all came together. I like Ether 12:4. I kinda used that as a theme - about how can we put an anchor on our goals (hope for a better world). We read about the Anti Nephi Lehi's who were super firm in their goal, even unto death. I asked what did they do to be so firm? And we looked back in Alma 24:7-10 and how they expressed a lot of thanks about what happened in the past (past year) and how they celebrated their goals. It was cool in the discussion with everyone, about how all the parts of the goal cycle came out. I then said how the whole BofM is set up like this. We have Nephi saying I will show the tender mercies in the first chapter and in the last chapter of the BofM we have Moroni saying look back at the tender mercies v.3 and ponder them in your heart. Then afterwards he goes into seek for the gifts of the spirit, which is basically telling us to make goals. So yeah, was interesting, but now I need to get going on my year goals.

Love ya, Dad!

Baptism Jerseys

Elder Galvez and Elder Cetraro sporting their Baptism Jerseys

New Companion Elder Hodson (lower right) and Roommates

Overlooking Juazeiro do Norte

P-Day in front of statue of Padre Cicero

Zac with New Member - Brother Donizete

Talent show - Zac with Companion, Elder Hodson, playing Be Still My Soul and The Scientist

Zac and roommates celebrating 6 month mark - Zac is 6-months in and others are 6-months from going home

Zac with 6-month pizza (Sign says Elder Cetraro - 6-Months)

Zac with Jaguar Skin - Grrrrr!

Zac and Elder Hodson getting in the Christmas Spirit

Christmas Feast

Zac and roommates didn't get any of their presents. What they did get was from the Relief Society - Thank You Sisters!

Make shift Christmas Tree made from a water cooler

Zac participating with the members in a Just Dance Party! People just don't know how much of a fun partier Elder Cetraro is.

So I thought it was funny how in your email about Montana of course you had to mention about the food. I think you can look back in my journal too and about half the things I mention are the food. So here I sent a picture of the dinner we had New Years Eve. WOOOOWW comida linda! I don’t think I will ever eat something so pretty again. I really am not even jealous of the food you guys are eating up in Montana. Because just for y'all to understand... I eat like I am in Montana... everyday!! Lol, luckily usually it is only one meal but followed by many snacks from everyone. Also... last week was my 6 month mark, It just happened to land on the End of the World Eve as well!! hahahaha so it was a funny night, we ordered pizzas and kidded around. Got some pictures of that. It is funny though because everyone I am living with basically just has 6 months left! Hahahaha, so here I am saying to myself "ooh man.... 6 months.." and they are like "ooh man... 6 months!" to themselves as well.

Alrighty, I put a couple pictures of Christmas in here as well. Ha, Christmas morning we all slept together in our "ironing/workout" room. We made a little decoration thingy to be festive. Unfortunately nobody had any presents because of slackers in Fortaleza but the Relief Society gave us a huge bag of goodies that looked really good under our tree, ha. It was fun. A couple days after we had a "Just Dance" activity. And guess who was all over that. THIS GUY! Ha oh my gosh, I don’t think the Brazilians here ever have seen a party animal like me before. Ha it was good though because I got a lot of people to participate. So that was super fun. I love dancing. But yeeeaahh it has been a long week for me.... it was filled with fun! Everyday has been very eventful; I can almost say that my holidays competed with yours! Our mission made a goal to have 2060 baptisms this year and we hit it! (There were actually 2060 Sons of Helaman). And yeah, today we just played some basketball, watched Brave for the 3rd week in a row, had a BBQ with a member and we will spend the rest of New Year's Eve with the same members as Christmas eve tonight... ha they are the best! 

So yeeeah. It’s been great. I am super happy, talking to you guys was the cherry on the top of it all. I loved hearing your loving Mom voice, my #1 fan. =) I just know you guys love me so much, and it just makes me so thankful. =) I love you guys too and I am glad that life is just awesome for us. I have learned a lot on the mission that our time here really isn’t anything. Just a little part in the whole scheme of things, but even in my little time I have had here on earth, I just think it is the sweetest thing. "It's a wonderful life" right?

I will talk to you are next year!