A Long Week...

Hi everyone,

My companion and I were sick this week, both of us with the same sickness, and so we had the same symptoms every day.. it's been an adventure! On Monday and Tuesday, until Wednesday afternoon, we both had fevers and headaches, and we went to the hospital on Wednesday, when we got these red spots everywhere that were itchy. They drew blood for a blood test, and diagnosed both of us with Dengue. I thought this was round 2 for me, but then, we went back for a follow-up visit on Friday, and they did another blood test, and said that it wasn't Dengue, but it was an unidentified virus that has been going around here, which is like Dengue, but a bit weaker. I think that I'm basically fully recovered today, after the 2-3 days of rest recommended by the doctor, and so hopefully we can work this week. They also said to drink 4-5 liters of water per day, which, I discovered, is no joke! It felt like I was drinking water like it was my job! XD Also, since Thursday, we've both gotten tired really easily, and had to rest a lot. All of our numbers for lessons taught and everything were 0 this week.. imagine that! I miss my investigators.. DX hah

Hopefully, this week will be better, and we're done with this "unidentified virus".. I'm still kinda itchy though.. and tired.. but.. we'll see.

I was able to talk with my family on Skype last night, for Mother's Day, and it was really nice to see everyone again! It's hard to believe that the next time I see them, it'll be in person! I'm looking forward to that. :)

Well, I'm going to go rest a bit more, and hopefully I can go out and work at 6pm tonight!

I hope that you're all in better health than I am! haha! Have a good week.

Elder Canto

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May the Fourth be with you..

I thought I'd steal Alissa's subject line here.. :D

Hi everyone! So Alissa and I have decided to move our wedding date to December 5th, 2015, since that's a Saturday, and it'll be easier for people to make it, we hope! Please email me to let me know if you're planning on going, whoever is reading this! (just so I'll know :]) We'll be getting married in the Seattle, WA temple. It's going to be awesome! :)

I officially have been on my mission for 17 months today, and I have 6 months left.. it's crazy how the time has flown by.. I'll be talking to my family on Skype on Mother's Day, for the last time before I go home, and I'm looking forward to that! It's only twice a year that we get to do that! I'll be flying in to the SEA-TAC airport on November 5th or 6th, and going to NY after getting married.

We'll be having a zone conference tomorrow with 5/7 of the zones in my mission, so that should be great, and I'll get to see some of my friends!

I was super tired this week, along with my companion, and our 2 new Brazilian roommates, since we spent our whole P-Day moving furniture and cleaning.. but, hopefully this week will be different, since today is going to be more relaxed. haha

I wonder how my brother feels about Alissa and I getting married on his birthday.. XD

Anyways, have a great week, everyone! Don't forget to pray and read the scriptures daily! God didn't give us the scriptures to keep them on a shelf, but, He gave them to us for us to read and study them! The more good things that you fill your life with, the less likely you are to have bad things in your life.

By the way, I was thinking about 3 questions this week:

1) Do I want to return to live with God in His kingdom after this life?
(to which I answered yes)

2) Am I ready/willing to do everything that I need to in order to receive this great blessing?

3) What do I need to change/do in order to qualify for this great blessing?

I promise you, you won't regret doing this! God has asked us to keep His commandments, have faith in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized, be born of the Spirit (John 3:5), and endure to the end. Whatever you need to change, change it, ASAP! This life is the time for us to prepare to meet God, and we should not procrastinate the day of our repentance! Also, Jesus Christ will come again, and He will come when no one is expecting it, so we need to always be clean/free of our sins, and be ready, and watching, and waiting, for when He does come again! And by doing this, we will be blessed, and we can rest easier. :)

I love each of you! Have a great week! Happy Mother's Day, to all of you wonderful mothers! Especially you, Mom! :D

Elder Canto

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Moving Day!

Today, we spent all day, (7:30am to 4pm), moving to the other elders' apartment, in our complex. We had to go down from the 3rd floor, and then up to the 2nd floor, over and over and over.. hah. I'm tired!

This weekend was stake conference, and I got to see a lot of people from Geisel and Mangabeira II, which was awesome. :) It was really great! This past week, I started learning how to play a song on the piano, and it's frustrating at times, but I'm getting there! I love playing the piano!

Our investigator is going to be baptized this Saturday, who's been investigating the church since September of 2014. It's going to be great :D

I'm doing great here in Cidade Jardim, and getting to know the members really well. It's been awesome teaching them the missionary lessons so far. We taught the Restoration a bunch, and now we're going to be teaching The Plan of Salvation. We've become professionals at teaching the Restoration, hah. We've watched the Restoration DVD like 12 times now in the past 2-3 weeks, and we keep finding symbolism in the different scenes. I love that movie, every time! Well, it's actually like 19 minutes long.. but yeah.. I love it! I'm still not tired of it.

So yeah, I'll be living with 2 Brazilians now -- Elder Foragi, and Elder Ribeiro, and my companion, who's from Texas -- Elder Buechele. It should be nice. We switched to the other side of the building, so now, we can see the church, and we have a nice breeze! And, we each have our own bed now, instead of a bunk bed. We had to clean the apartment a ton, and we threw a way a ton of church magazines and manuals that were just sitting around for a really long time, and nobody was using. I hate to throw these things away, but.. there comes a point, where.. there's just no point to having them! Too many! hah

Anyways, I need to get going now, but, I love each of you, and I hope that you are all well! I am always praying for you, and I thank those of you who are praying for me, as well!

Have a great week!

Elder Canto

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Transfers next week! Happy Easter!

Hey everyone, next Wednesday is transfers, so I'll be emailing on Wednesday, and not Monday. We had a baptism on Saturday, and it was great! I love being a missionary, and having so many opportunities to help people. It is truly a blessing to see how the gospel changes people's lives. I learned a lot from General Conference this week, and I am going to continue listening to the talks again, and I invite you all to do the same!

Have a wonderful week. I love each of you! Happy Easter!

Elder Canto

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I'm keeping my promise! I'm sending photos! haha

Elder Buechele (my companion) and I on our 3rd floor balcony


My new daily planner covers (I do this just about every transfer)


First-person shooter.. with the bee that Alissa sent me.. haha! I'm addicted to video games.. okay?


The bee and I :P


Have a great week, everyone! :)

Elder Canto

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Magical Flying Ants

Hey everyone! This week was pretty great, and my companion, Elder Buechele, is awesome! I got a bit more familiar with the area this week, but I'm still basically lost 90% of the time that we're out on the streets. Yesterday it rained a ton, and the magical flying ants made their return once again! When it rains, the ants grow wings and start flying everywhere, since they have no idea how to fly.. it's really obnoxious! They were inside people's homes, and the church, and so we had to be a bit careful to avoid them.. hah

I was playing chess with my companion and.. he's way better than me -__- I decided to quit playing. haha

I like my new apartment, and it's actually really awesome living with just one other person! It's a bit more peaceful, and you don't have to clean as much, or wait to use the bathroom. It's nice. I really like having an American companion, because I can speak English, which.. is just easier. haha

I'm excited for General Conference, which is coming up in a little less than a month, and the end of Summer! Which is March 21st. Although.. Summer or not, it's still really hot here.. so.. I don't really know why I'm excited about that! XD

I hope that each of you are having a great 2015, and doing good things. Feel free to respond to this email if you would like to ask me anything or just say hi! I would love that! haha :)

Have a wonderful week! I'll try and take some pictures to send this week.. maybe.. o.O

Elder Canto

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Transferred!

Hey everyone!

I was transferred to a new area, Cidade Jardim (Garden City), today. My new companion... is my best friend in the mission! Basically.. hah -- I am really excited for this transfer. I've been living with just Brazilians ever since last July, bascially, and now, I'm finally back with Americans. XD There were 2 companionships here until today, and now it's just my companion and I. We have a pretty big apartment, all to ourselves! It's weird.. we've only been there for about 30 minutes today, but, I never imagined that I'd be living alone with one of my companions! It's definitely a good thing that we're good friends, since it'll just be us! There is a chance that the neighboring area, Rangel, will be moving in with us, since there is only one companionship there now, too. They live in the same apartment complex as us, but in a different building. What's funny, is that Elder Buechele's companion was transferred from Cidade Jardim to Rangel today, so he just switched buildings.. haha! Longest. Transfer. Ever. ...not really.

Anyways, I'm extremely happy, and I would love to write more, but I need to go now! I apologize to those who emailed me this week, and I didn't respond -- I was moving files around on my USB drives and my camera.. so yeah.. sorry! I'll be emailing again on Monday though, and I'll respond then!

I love each of you! Have a great week!

Elder Canto

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.