Email and pics from Brazil...

Here's the latest from our missionary... sounds like he loves his new area...but I think I want to hear more about the indians!

Oi família  I´m in the middle of the freakin jungle! I met my first indians this week, they didn't even speak portuguese. You guys should look up this city, it is really beautiful. It is also freakin hot here too! At 10 at night it was 92 degrees in our apartment. This week was a good week in a working standpoint, we found a bunch of good people this week. It is still the raining season here and it rained so hard on sunday that there has been no energy or water. Everything will be in working order today so there´s nothing to worry about. By the rivers there are a ton of iguanas which is really cool, they are big too. The road behind our apartment we have an investigator that has little monkeys in his yard. They are wild but they stick around for the bananas he gives them. This place is really cool. Barra do Garças is a pretty wealthy town so missionary work is a bit harder there but Aragarças is a lot less rich so it is easier here. We actually live in aragarças not barra. But everything is going good here and good to here that everything is going good there. I didn´t think the scar would be that big for a little mole! .... That´s about it send questions if you have any. Elder Lewis

Trent's surgery...

WARNING....GRAPHIC PICTURES OF TRENT IN A PAPER BLOUSE AND TRENTS CLOSEDUP WOUND!!! (I don't know which one is scarier!) Well... today was Trent's surgical procedure and Erin and I watched! It was pretty interesting. Trent was VERY brave when they jabbed him with the numbing stuff. OUCH!!! We have some pretty graphic pictures of the cut and everything but I decided it was a little TOO much to put on the blog. Trent will probably put them on facebook so if you like the gory medical stuff go to facebook!

The perfect patient

All stitched up! Realize this is all because of one very small mole! See the mole in the middle of his back? The one he had removed was just a tiny bit bigger that that one and now he has a 6 inch scar!

I reiterate my warning... PLEASE go get your moles checked!

Ready to go home!

I am so glad the procedure went well.. the scar should look pretty good when it is healed, the surgeon did a very nice job. Trent did amazing and I am releived this part of it is over. We did a pretty good job of staying upbeat through this and had our jokes and fun with it...(and I had my tears and prayers)... BUT reality is ... the mole saga is not over yet... we still have results to get and a few more moles to take care of...

Go get your moles checked!

From Brazil... Transferred!

Here's the latest from our missionary... sounds like he loves his new area!

Oi Família!As you might have wondered, I got transfered. Right now i´m reeeealy far away from goiania. I got transfered to Barra do Garças. It´s in the state next to goias. Right now i´m in the state of andrew millet´s mission. My area is 3 little towns and it´s just me and my comp 6 hours away from the nearest missionary. This place is soo cool though. Just like in Rio de Janeiro there is a statue of christ, two rivers we can fish in, and a bunch of waterfalls we can go to. We can actually do stuff here unlike the other cities. It´s just a branch of 30 actives too and we have church from 7:00-8:30 or 9 ish at night because of the heat. This is the hottest place in the mission, good thing i´m from az!! My comp is Elder Wride and he´s from ogden,ut. He only been on the mission for 4 months. But he talks really well for the time he has. We should have a good time here, it seems really cool here. I took a bunch of pics on the bus but i will send them next week. That´s crazy trent´s mole had cancer. I don´t think i have any moles. That´s about it. Any questions for me? See you all later.Elder Lewis

Mole warning!

This is a story AND a warning for all...This post is a little different from my usual stuff... I have learned a LOT about "moles" in the past few days... and I don't mean the squinty eyed little furry creatures... I mean just regular ol ordinary little brown spots on your body... I think everyone probably has a couple.

This whole mole thing started early in December as Trent was getting his physical stuff done for his mission papers. During his physical the doctor noticed a mole on his back. He said it had a little black speck on it. He circled it with a pen and said show your mom... I want to remove it.

Soo.... Trent showed me and I thought to myself... it looks just like a regular ol mole... he's probably just being cautious.

So Trent had it removed... I thought he would have maybe two stitches... I mean... the mole was only just a little larger than a quarter inch...

So I was surprised when he came home with 6 stitches!

WARNING... GRAPHIC PIC OF STITCHES... I made it small so it wouldn't be too gross...

So... I kind of didn't think too much about it after that...

Then 2 1/2 weeks later came the phone call...

The pathology report said the mole was cancerous... at first it didn't sink in... I just thought... cancerous.... I certainly wasn't expecting that... I'm sure glad they took it out....

then the voice continued to say... something about a surgeon... cutting it back open... I've already checked your insurance... here is the doctor's name and number.. I'm faxing the report to her now... call right away!

NOT words a mom wants to hear... I didn't handle it very well... so I wanted more info ...so I looked on the internet... NOT a good idea....

So today we went to see a surgeon... not as bad as I expected.... we are VERY lucky. What they are concerned about are the abnormal cells that showed up in the tissue that wasn't part of the mole. If the cells in the tissue were full out cancerous, that would have been WAY WAY more serious and would have required WAY more serious treatment. So in this procedure Trent will have to have three times more tissue removed... but she will be able to do it in the office... only cuz Trent is a tough guy... and he will have to be very careful of that area for a long time until the skin can get some stretch back in it. He will also have to have some other moles removed after this.

Sooo.... this definitely puts off turning in his mission papers for a while... which we are VERY bummed about... but I am grateful for a keen eyed doctor that spotted the mole!

SOOOO besides being able to put my feelings about this on the blog... I have a sense of urgency to tell EVERYONE to go get your moles checked... REALLY!! I just had no idea what could happen.

The procedure is Wednesday... Trent wants me to be in the room with him... to take pictures!! I don't know if that will happen... but if it does... be ready for a VERY interesting blog post!!!

Facing "IT"...

Yay it's Saturday.... but instead of lounging around... Mike and I (mostly Mike) are tacking a BIG challenge... the ATTIC!!! It's hard to believe just how FULL the attic has become in just 3 1/2 years. When I moved in the attic was basically empty except for some construction garbage. And although I didn't come with too much..  boxes and tubs have accumulated somehow. So...  Mike is rearranging the attic, cleaning out the garbage and installing more floor. I am cleaning out old papers and junk that we don't need. So why all this work you ask?!? So we have room to store our REALLY  IMPORTANT ever growing supply of HOLIDAY DECORATIONS!!! Someone has to do it!!!

from Brazil...

Here's the latest from Brandon:

Hello everyone!Happy New Year!! New year was pretty normal. We ate dinner at a members house and then went home. At 9:30 all the parties are just begining. There were a ton of people launching fireworks. New years eve day, new years eve night, and new years day day were constant fireworks. And just like on christmas, new years day no one wanted to learn about jesus. We were the only ones awake on new years day. But it´s all good. Our church is at 9 in the morning. Just about every ward and branch in the country has church at this time. The chapels are small here and it´s usually just one ward per building. Transfers are next week and i´m sure i´ll have more to say then. See you all later. Elder Lewis

Trentbo...

Trent bought a new gun and was excited to go try it out... He took the camera and said he was going to take some "Rambo" pictures...

So there ya have it... not QUITE Rambo... more like "Trentbo"!!