"Conferencia Geral esta vindo!!" General Conference is coming!!

... #VN#LivinTheLegend#Churro#Pimpedmyride
Someone got angry and burned this car. :)

I learned something about the underground communication. I thought that hanging shoes from the power lines was a cultural thing or a practical joke but it is really how the drug dealers mark territory and trade points.

Oí, todo mundo! Só tranquilidade nos Estados Unidos e Peru? (shoutout to Elder Fife! love ya bud!)

Thank you for all of the happy birthdays and personal emails. In time i will respond to all! My birthday was great. It was a hot day and then the day after was freezing. This weathering is so unpredictable. Its the climate of a rainforest with out a forest... just concrete and the mix wacks things up sometimes. I guess we can call the climate, raincrete! haha so cheesy! But really i am so thankful for the pillow case, the spiderman pillow case. my spidy senses are up all night long now!

This week was interesting. We helped a lady carry her groceries to her house and up the stairs and then we were talking trying to set up a time when we could visit to share a message and she grabbed my companions arm and started rubbing her face on his shoulder like a teddy bear. My companion freaked out but we both could help but crack up at the situation. He fleed from her grasp but she held on tight. He went behind me and i kind of pushed her off. She doesnt have very many teeth (the word for that in portuguese is "Bangela" someone who doesnt have teeth). After he broke free we booked down the stairs and out of the door! Some people are just strange. 

Anybody can guess what i ate this week??? Rice and beans baby. Still going strong every day. I love it. But really i am lovin the fried banana... nothing gets better than fried banana for dessert!

We were so blessed this week and found more people who are ready to be taught about the restored gospel. I love the Lord and how he works. Truly this mission experience is marvalous and lifechanging. The title of this post is in English "General Conference is coming!". Two times every year we have the opportunity to hear from the prophet and the 12 aposltes of the world. October 1st and Second they will address us. If any of you want to know why The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is different from any other church that preaches about Christ, listen or watch this conference. We have a living prophet today. God worked through prophets in the bible, book of mormon, and all throughout time. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I invite all of you to listen to the words of the prophet and apostles today and focus on what you feel. Pray and ask if these men are men of God. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I love you all! Have an amazing week!

Com Amor,

Elder Sanchez

See how to secure your vehicle!

Walking through a park at night.




Secured vehicle! ha ha

So this week was great! We have people that actually want to learn about the gospel! And i had a few strange/ funny experiences! The first is the van... i sent a pic with the caption "if you dont want someone to steal your van... chain it to the ground". Whats really funny is that these voltwagon vans here are like the most common utility vehicle and i dont think anyone would try and steal this one. Unless he has something valuable inside that led him to chain his van to the ground. then it would make sense. My companion and i were laughing so hard. There was a DJ across the street playing like Black Power rap from the 60s and 70s that same day too. I taught my companion how to say "Lets have a Black Panther Party" from Forest Gump! 

There is a song that i really love that my companion has and it is called "Closer" by Kyle Thorn. Look it up and listen, it describes how i feel on the mission every day.

It is getting hard to formulate sentences in english when i talk, writing is easy but when i talk its hard. I was on a phone call with my mission president and we were speaking english and i couldnt talk as fast as normal haha.

We were contacting last night in road and i walked up to this person and said "O Senhor (Mister)" to call his atention but he replied right back and in the moment he replied i saw the makeup and the hair and then heard the voice, "Não, é a Senhora (No, its Miss)". I realized that it was a tranny. I didnt know how to respond for a second then i just talked about the church with him and asked if we could visit and share a message about the Savior. He accepted, he has family that are mormon. Turns out he doesn't live in our area and he said that he wants to go to the United states... I made the mistake of asking why. He said to marry his husband. Nothing against him/her, but it was just an awkward contact, i´ll tell ya.

So my spiritual message this week is what we have been sharing with all the members the we eat almoço (lunch) with. Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles said that when we pray for missionary experiences and for who we should share the gospel with that the names and faces of the people will come to our mind, the words will come to our mouth in the moment we need them, opportunities will arise and our faith with surpass our doubt. (i couldnt quote directly because i only have in portuguese haha) but this is the message. I invite all of you guys to pray for opportunities to share the gospel. I have a testimony of this. It is something that i tried to be dilligent with the year before the mission and it was amazing. I found opportunites at school, work, and with friends to talk about the teachings of the savior! Do it and you will see this too!

Love you guys, this time next week i will be 19 years old... just think about how cool that is for a second!

Elder Sanchez

A regular pizza with chocolate filled crust. So amazing!!
This is Elder Souza, my zone leader.


This picture is with my companion and with a member of the ward.
He is awesome and put on his old elder badge with us.

This week i had my first division with the zone leaders! It was awesome!! I dont have much time for my blog, today i´m gonna try to respond to some individuals! But here are a few things... I´m learning the soundtrack of the Prince of Egypt in portuguese from my companion (Emily Mitchell, i hope you are reading this haha). And this week i was studying in second Nephi in portuguese when he quotes Isaiah! It was awesome but i learned so many words about destruction of the wicked and the end of the world, fire and brimstone, type of vocabulary haha. I dont know when i will ever have to use this on the mission. I hope never! But then i arrived at the final chapters of 2nd Nephi. He testifies of before the coming of christ, the coming of christ, christ in the americas, and christ in our era today. It is some powerful stuff. I know that my testimony of the truthfulness of the book of Mormon grew from reading his testimony! Good stuff! Yesterday in church one of our investigators finally made it to church. I have never been more happy in my life than  to see her walk in the chapel sunday morning. She has a difficult life, her children have difficult lives, but her faith is strong and it is a blessing to be apart of her time coming to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I also played piano in sacrament meeting again... i didnt butcher it this time like the first time haha! A few final words... Jesus Christ is real, he is our brother and our savior. The Book of Mormon testifies of the reality of his ministry and gospel in the Bible. A testimony of the Book of Mormon can change one´s life for better. God works through prophets. It is a demonstration of his love for us. Today we all have a prophet of God, his name is President Thomas S. Monson and if we heed to his council and the council of the prophets in the Bible and Book of Mormon, we will recieve the maximum joy in this life and in the life to come!

Love you all so much! GO DAWGS and GOOOOO COUGARS!!

Elder Sanchez