WOW!!! Thank you all! =) You guys are all great. I really appreciate a Happy Birthday from every one of you. =) Ha, I had a feeling yesterday that I was going to have a good surprise on my email for my Birthday. It (my b-day) definitely was different and was a little adventure but it was all good. I definitely gave the whole big 2-0 a big thinkin’ over. I’m done with my wild and crazy teenage years that really formed me into who I am, and now I am starting the most influential decade of my life. Where I will finish off my service to the Lord, pick a major and finish school, find my eternal companion, and probably start a family.

 AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Scary but thrilling right?! Well I know time is only going faster, but when I hit double digits at age 10 it definitely seems like NOT yesterday (a lifetime ago!). So I will take it as it goes. I am thoroughly convinced though that life ONLY gets better. You just need to find the thrill in each season of life. I love the snow, I love the heat, and I love everything in between. So I am chill with the great adventures in front of me.

Anyways I’ll tell ya about my day. I am writing ya’ll a day late for a reason. So the highlight of my day was definitely the first hour. I woke up and read the letter from David and Laura’s Family that they told me to wait to open until my birthday. I really enjoyed it, tell them thank you. I thought the “Stand a Little Taller” thought was perfect for a missionary birthday =). President and Sister called and wished me a happy birthday, and I made some DELICIOUS açaí and busted out some letters! WOO!

A member family that we have been working with to baptize their 23-year-old nephew, who moved to live with them, invited us over for a lunch FHE. WOW, it was Chinese noodles awesomeness. Probably the only Chinese food I’ll have on the mission. It was good. But during all of this, my Comp was dying. He started to have some intense pain in his kidneys. Sunday and on my birthday it was killing him. So Sister called up a taxi and we spent the rest of the day until 9:30 at night, just to confirm that he really did have a kidney stone.

I think here on the mission one of the greatest lessons we have to learn is that we are here in this life, especially as a priesthood holder, to serve and not to be served. We have Jesus, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Kings of all Kings, who showed us His life of doing exactly that. On a B-day, naturally we assume to be served because it is OUR day. I think Heavenly Father gave me a special birthday that showed me the spirit of the missionary service on my B-day as a gift. Also He gave me an opportunity to exercise charity, one of the biggest goals I am trying to develop here on the mission.

At the beginning, we just sat and waited, I wrote letters and read the BofM. It came to a time where my Comp was put on a bed and injected with medicine to ease the pain. For some reason during the first IV/injection hour, the pain only got worse. We were awfully confused, being two Americans in a Brazilian Hospital, and the whole process and examination wasn’t very well explained to us. My Comp was tossing and turning and I felt like I should put down the letter and help some how. I really felt helpless because I didn’t know what I could do to help. I wasn’t no Mom. What can a man do to help? I really didn’t know what was going on, neither did he. So I felt like I should give him a priesthood blessing and then aid him with getting water, and just standing there, being there for him and communicating with the nurses and doctors and such for him. Shortly after the blessing and me talking with a nurse, a different medicine/IV was put in, and he zonked out. He’s been doing good since then. This morning after reading some thoughts from a year ago I felt inspired to make a good breakfast for him, and clean up a big mess that he has been putting off for some time. Ha, so that was my birthday experience this year.

Besides that the week was pretty good. We are getting better at getting more lessons in and keeping up on the many contacts. This week was a GREAT one. WOW and do I have some great news for all of you! So this week we had Zone Conference and there were some announcements that blew my socks off! So first, the AP, Elder Araújo, who has been the AP since I arrived here, is leaving early for college this week. So my good friend Elder Reynolds (the tall American Zone leader from Juazeiro that I lived with) got called to be the new AP, and he is the first American AP since President Souza has been here in the last 2 years, big news for us. My old comp, Elder Hodson, then got called to be Zone Leader there in Juazeiro, something I KNOW he will be very proud of. All this made me very happy, but now for the BIG NEWS. President Souza was in conference this last week with some other Presidents here in Brazil, and it was decided that my Mission is going to be SPLIT!! HA, that’s right, there is going to be a Mission Fortaleza, and a new Mission Fortaleza Leste. So here in March we will be getting another Mission President for the other half of the mission, and July we will do the official split. HA, which means it will be possible for me to serve in 2 different missions! Ha cool huh? Our groups were made to sustain one mission, and now we will be split to cover two missions, which will be receiving many new missionaries to lead. Ha, I just know here soon things are going to step up for me and I know that I will see a lot of God’s hand in this transition process. It is He who planned this all, and it is just cool that I will have part in helping with this new big change in the new age of missionary work. So you guys will be hearing a lot more about that here in the near future.

This week we had a baptism of a really good kid, Jurandy. A friend brought him to church last week and we prepared him to be baptized this week. He did everything we asked and so in the space of one week everything happened for him to be baptized. Read, pray, receive an answer, learn and obey the commandments. Sad thing is though we received news yesterday that he will be moving this week. I thought it was a little funny since my first baptism in Juazeiro moved and I never saw him get confirmed (he did though), and now my first baptism here is moving too (he WILL be confirmed).

Besides that I also did a division with Elder Flores, a Gaucho Elder who only has been 1 month in the mission. He LOVED it and said he learned a lot. I gave him a tie and introduced him to Guacamole (they eat Avocado sweet down here). I felt pretty well with being the Senior and basically training, but at the same time I felt pretty humbled because I will need divine help for sure.

So yeah. There is a nice big Birthday email for you all. Parabéns Riley on the Eagle. That is awesome, Mom must be really proud. And yeah, I love you all and I am doing great down hereLove you all, and good luck with everything! =)

-Elder Cetraro

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

…So we were supposed to have 2 baptisms this last Sunday but things fell through because the moms couldn’t make it! Ha, I guess that is a valid reason. One’s name is Jackson. I will be the one dunking him, and the other is Nathanial, who we have been working with since week 1. Jackson is 16 and is really eager to join the church. He has been getting along well with the youth and he wants to be a missionary! Nathanial is very timid but he knows the church is true. It has been great watching him grow the last few months. I will send you pictures next week!

So I had an interview with President and it was pretty good. It looks like I will be staying and my companion will be leaving. It isn’t for certain though. But I am asking you guys and the whole family to pray extra hard for me these next two weeks. Transfers end the 11th and until then I will be the Senior. Which I am suuuper excited for! I feel my trainer did everything, (more than train me) and had troubles inside lessons letting me do things. So it will be like going from doing nothing to everything so I need the Lord’s help for sure. Please do that for me.

WOW, the holidays are coming up! Ha, I have been thinking about Halloween. I want to do something but I don’t know what. I am thinking about wearing like white socks.... psssh lame! You guys should send me a pull-up bar. If you do, I promise I won’t return fat. I would love that more than anything right now.

Some thoughts I wanted to share with you the last couple of weeks. One, I think someone is praying that I am well fed... because I am weeelll fed. The lunches are so good here and I am only hungry when I choose to be ;) Also in the house I always have food. Sometimes the others run out but I never do! I blame it on my thriftiness that I got from you! This is something my comp admires of me... he also thinks I am a bit crazy! He was spoiled before the mish and he always talks about it. So yeah. I got to go, Love ya, Mom

-Elder Cetraro

October 1, 2012

GUESS WHAT!!! Start of a new transfer today, which means mail, and YES, I got your package! =) Awesome! Life is good. Anyways... that was sweet. Thanks =) P.

So companion.... this week.... Health.... well. So, my Companion got sick with something this week so he was out from Monday to Thursday. I worked one night on a split but stayed with him. I was a little sick all week too, but you know me, that doesn´t slow me down. But during a Branch activity Thursday night... I started to feel sick, I started to feel a fever coming on, so I thought I´ll just try to go to bed a bit earlier. Well come to find out I had a 102 fever all night, which I guess is enough to call into the Mission Mom and she said to go to the hospital the next day. Weeeelll... it got worse. My fever kept on hovering closer and closer to 104, it wasn´t good. I couldn´t sleep, and I seriously thought I was going to die. Never felt so close to death. Eventually the others decided to flag down a random car in the street and drive me to the hospital where I got an IV and everything. Fun eh? Turns out it was probably an intestinal infection, and since I am American and this certain bacteria was probably very new to me it hit me hard.  I was out the rest of Friday. But miraculously I was back on my feet and working Saturday (my comp. is still slowed down by his).

But there is a good part to all of this. I know this transfer has been really rough, but I truly feel God has been putting me and my companion through a refining process so we will be gold. After all this stuff this last week I feel my companion and I are finally getting along better and probably wouldn´t have arrived at this any other way, ya know.

Anyways, yesterday was his birthday, and we had 3 birthday parties! The best though was the surprise one from a family he baptized in an area 10 hours away. They randomly showed up here and threw him a party, it was unbelievable. And I was lucky enough to be sucked up into the joy of it all. Yesterday I felt the joy of the missionary life and I don´t think it was because it was his birthday, I think this feeling will stay =)

Anyways, that was my week. I love ya’ll and talk to ya next week!