Greetings everybody! You mean to tell me another weeks already passed? Yeesh man time flies when you're on the Lord's time it seems. But I was going to say this week was another one of lots of highs and lows, but I think that's just going to be a consistent theme with every week here. The Portuguese words of this week are "unha encravada" which... if you wanna know the meaning you can translate it. But basically I've got this darn unha encravada that's been dealing me and my dear toe all sorts of pain. Luckily I think we got it solved this week! Twas not the funnest process, but I'm grateful for any character growing opportunity I get handed, and that's no lie. Speaking of characters, this week was full of amazing people! I think the highlight was just how many great new people we met this week, completely by random. Having the mission-unique experience of meeting people the way that I get to is an incredible experience. I've gotten to meet so many genuinely interesting folks, willing to share their life stories with us, and we have the opportunity to try and help lift their weight through the peace the Gospel offers. Especially in this era of Christmas, it's a beautiful thing to me that I'm able to be a representative of Christ and bring joy to others through his name. I am very grateful for all that I have and for this Christmas season! 
To take a page from Elder Jones' book, I wanna share a short scripture from the baller BoM that I've been reading this week. So with my toe pain, I read the famous D&C 121, which has the legendary part:
"My son, peace be unto thy soul: thine advertisy and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high."
Obviously I'm not going through anything near what Joseph Smith was when he recieved this, but it had me thinking. What does God mean when he says "if thou endure it well"? Well I think a part of it is the literal taking it well, which is keeping your head up through hard things and not complaining and stuff like that, but I think he's also talking about something else. I think in our difficult moments, no matter what it is, God always wants to see us turn to him for support. Enduring it well to me means we come unto Christ through each one of our difficult moments, to experience the power of his Atonement and the fact he has experienced every one of our pains already. Through my literal pains this week I've been excercising this mentality, and I can promise anyone reading that as often as you will seek out Christ with a sincere heart, he will answer. He lives, and he knows each one of us. He is always looking to help us with each of our lives, and I can testify of the reality that he is always with us, as often as we let him in. In this Christmas season especially, I invite all you peeps and peepettes reading to invite Christ into your lives a bit more! Give some time to the reasons of Christmas, the things that he stood for, and be a light in someone else's life to someone else. Be sensitive to the Spirit this Christmas season, and I have no doubt the Spirit could guide you to be a belssing in someone else's life who especially needs it.
Now it's time for a segment I like to call...
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Some other highlights ️ -We were teaching a lesson one evening, and this lizard (no idea where it came from) fell on Elder McLanes head (maybe heaven), and spooked him then fell on the ground. The Brazilian dude we were teaching grabbed his sandal like Thor summoning his hammer and lazered that lizard with such accuracy it left it unconscious. It was truly remarkable.
-This isn't really a highlight but I had such a funny moment of self-awareness this week, basically lets just say, this I wasn't exactly looking my best. So there I was, looking like a genuine homeless man. Dirty shirt cause it was a windy day and I got dirt blown on me (is my theory), limping on one leg like a zombie because I have a toe that looks like it got splashed with mutagen from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, blisters on my feet, bug bites (approximately 100,000) covering my ankles and heels, red itchy spots on my arms cause my skin hates the air here sometimes, a 5 o'clock shadow because Mark Mugleston blessed me to be the hairiest man alive, acne on some parts of my face, and I'm still looking like a criança fresh off the new haircut. I look like a monster. I'm sure if any of the Whos in Whoville happened to see me they would instantly mistake me for the Grinch. Obviously I'm exaggerating but it was a funny moment nevertheless.
-Me and Elder McLane are both gentlemen who when we're not progressing the Lord's work, we're enjoying doing creative endeavers. He's a super good writer, and I'm an artist myself, so we've been having some fun evenings brainstorming ideas for theoretical stories we could make. It's been a great time! For anyone reading who knows about Hollywood Pizza, just know the plot is thickening and the story is progressing.
Alright alright, this emails getting pretty dang lengthy so I'm gonna go ahead and free everyone from the work that is reading the Elder Hillstead emails. But really, thank you all for reading! And for those who read the spiritual thought, thank you times 3! Yknow a lot of spiritual stuff happens out here, so it's nice to share a bit of the stuff that's been helping me help others. But I hope everyone has a great week, thank you to anyone that's reached out to me, it literally makes every day feel like Christmas when I wake up and look under the nonexistent Christmas tree I have and see an email from a beloved friend or a family. You guys are the bestest. Love you all, and stay safe this week!
P.S Elder McLane and I tried remembering the lyrics to the 12 days of Christmas, which was actually so difficult because of how weird the lyrics are. What the heck does 11 Lords a-leaping mean and if anyone knows the significance of this song I would love to know. Thanks!
1. The drummer's in trouble
3. Me calling the President of Brazil (he's kind of fruity)
4. Look a tree
5. A brazilian view
6. Its been raining cats and dogs I tell you
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