Hey!

Hello my people,

So, this week was up and down.  Whats new on the Mission right? So here in Rond. its a lot more metropolitan but my area is pretty ghetto not gonna lie.  But we have church in a house cuz we dont have a building here yet.. which is a little different, but at the same time its all the same which is a cool experience.  Same spirit, same church, same truth.  But after church we found a house with a huge sign that said Jehovas Witnesses, and my compainion went to take a pic and while he was posing I starting clapping my hands ( which is the same as ringing the door bell here) and he had to stay and talk with them for a while... It was really funny, tho he was so mad at me. 

But lets see what else.. oh and as if being colorblind wasnt confusing enough, oranges here are green? Yeah, I know my world just got more confusing. Also Uno is a difficult game sometimes.. Well only with the yellow and green, but I still won. Brazilians arent good at card games.

So there were a few short things from this week, but would like to focus most of my email on Rogerio.  

My first contact, investigator, and best friend here that was in my first area. He was my investigator that was progressing incredibly. So this week I recieved a call from his Mom and she told me that he had died. 

Rogerio had died of a heart attack.. at first I didnt believe it, it just didnt seem real.. And then she said I really wanted to call and tell you because you changed his life.  She told me that after every visit, and everyday he would talk about `Elder Phipps`all the time and how much he was starting to love the gospel.  It then got really real for me, because I knew I meant so much to him and he really meant a lot to me. He had finally quit smoking and was on his 5th day of smoking 0 cigarettes, and finally had a baptism date that he was beyond excited for, because he had finally met his goal to quit smoking.  At first I took the news pretty hard because he was so close to recieving so many blessings of the gospel.  But then I began to think.. God truly has a plan for all of us.  And because of this plan, and through the Savior these types of things arent the end. I know that he has a special work for Rogerio and that he has a plan specific for him. I learned a lot from this experience but also I really learned a lot from him. He taught me how to love more, how to focus on the happiness of life. He was amazing father to his 4 yr old Samuel. Please keep Rogerio and His Family in your prayers.

Not much more has happened this week. We are starting to work really well with the members here, and recieving lots of contacts through them which has been great! Help the missionaries in your ward, its hard to do it alone, and the influence of the help of members goes a long way for investigators! Make a goal to give a reference a month to the missionaries.. think how many people you know. How many firends you have on the face book.. Pass one to the members and work with them you will be suprised of the miracles that will occur! 

Well I love you all and hope you have another blessed and safe week!

Elder Marcus Phipps