Hey! It has been a long week! Christmas was great! SO different, but so great to talk to my family! I got a package from my mom and stepdad, and one from my dad and stepmom, the day before Christmas Eve! It was super exciting. We were able to spend Christmas Eve with a few other missionaries, at a members house. They made a TON of food for us and we had a little message, and watched Joy To The World. It was neat. Christmas day we had lunch with the Bishop and his family and then I basically just talked to my family the rest of the day! We had a wedding at the church that night, a cute young couple. It was fun to be there with everyone. The people here celebrate it, but it isn't anything special, just another holiday (they have a billion!) Other than that, We had transfers this week!! Both my companion and I were certain she would be transferred because she hás been here in this área for a long time, but... she stayed! And.. I stayed too! So we will be together for another 6 weeks. We are excited and ready to work hard and teach, help, and baptize! I am learning lots... one of the big things I learned the past couple of weeks is that even if we have faith, we need to do ALL that we can to work towards what we want. If we only go halfway, our faith wont be enough to make up for the rest. :)I love you all and hope you had a great Christmas, and hope you have a super fun New Years Eve! Love, Sister Porath

The Pictures.... Elder Shawcroft, Elder Gabriel, Me, Sister Zorzo in front of a huge Christmas tree made out of 2 liter bottles! It is really pretty!

Christmas Eve, with a family, Sister Costa, Me, Sister Zorzo, Sister Oliveira, Elder Guerra, Elder Luis and Elder Thomson.

It is hard to believe it is p day again already! BUT I am not complaining! This week has been fast. We had our zone conference in Sergipe (the other state that my mission includes) with all the missionaries serving there. It was also our Christmas conference. It was a lot of fun! I got to meet a lot of elders, and get to know a few of the other sisters better. Each district acted out a little skit or something. It was funny! My group acted out the scripture 2 Kings 2: 23-25 (I think!) Me and my companion dressed up as bears.. kind of! Everyone laughed! President Beynon gave a talk about Jesus Christ and His Atonement. It was really neat. We watched a short video clip and he just cried. Then he got up and said he was crying because of the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us, but also for the sacrifice of each missionary. He knows this time is hard to be away from family, and to be working hard here. He is such a neat man. His wife is amazing too. I am so grateful for them! Then on Saturday night and Sunday morning we had Stake Conference! It was super neat as well! Craig Zwick, Sister Beck, Elder Scott and Elder Eyring all spoke.. in Portuguese! Except Elder Eyring. But it was really neat! Elder Eyring talked about us being in a soccer game (cuz soccer is HUGE here!) About how the Salt Lake team unexpectedly beat LA because the LA star player missed a goal in the shootout because he lost his concentration for one second. So.. we need to never lose our concentration, our desire to always try to live right and work hard and serve others, because Satan is waiting for that one tiny moment, when he will attack. There is a recent convert, of about 3 months, here in the ward. He is a 24 year old man who left the world of drinking, drugs, colored hair, earings.. ect. In order to be baptized and enjoy the blessings of the gospel. He has been SO strong. He does visits with us, and wants to become a better member. Aw. He is such a neat guy. But yesterday he called us crying and said he needed help. We went to his house and he had been drinking… since Sunday. He didn’t go to church and had started a new job and someone offered him alcohol and he had a weak moment and accepted. He said it was because he is sad that his dad wont let anyone from the church into their house. None of his family accepted the church, or even the lessons from the missionaries. He is doing it all alone and I know it has to be SO hard. It made me so sad, he was so sad, he didn’t like the state he was in and I know all he needs are more friends and support from the members. We are going to do all that we can to help him and I know he will pull through and stay strong in the gospel and continue to be blessed by it. I am so grateful for all of my friends and family that I have to support me in this gospel, and here on a mission. I would not be able to do it without it! Thank you all so much! I love you!!Love. Sister Porath

Oi! So..... its been another week! Oh and we switched p-day this week because we have zone conference tomorrow and people traveled here today so that they can travel there with us tomorrow. I got a hair cut. Mostly just a trim, but he/she (a man that wants to be a woman and dresses like one and I don’t know if he/she has had any surgeries or not BUT… it was interesting, my companion suggested him/her so I just went for it!) kind of layered it in the front. I like it though! That same night, there was a huge rivalry soccer game here. The team that won, Flamego´s, have TONZ of fans! Everyone was driving around after honking their horns, it was crazy! There was like a parade of 20 cars and 40 motorcycles with everyone hanging out the windows waving their flag or t-shirt. Elder Gabriel, one of my zone leaders, is trying to convince me to root for this team. I might choose them! But my companion and Elder Shawcroft, my other zone leader, want me to pick Palmares! So I don’t know! I am just going to wait :) A few other random things… I live on sweet and condensed milk! I have it on bread basically every morning and night! We have it on crackers, on this food called cuscuz, its like cornbread almost, it is so good! Every week the ward has a family night at the chapel and last week the Bishop got sick and called us and we had to teach the lesson! I was sp nervous… but it went well! We had a baptism last week, it was really neat. It was a man named Valdir, he is in his 30´s and is really spiritual. Now we just have to keep visiting him to help him remain strong in the church. Oh! This week was a trip to the temple for the stake here! They left Monday morning, and will get back Friday night. It is about 6 hours away, the Recife temple. I think they have a place there that members sleep at. And since they don’t get to go very often, they go into the temple for the first session early in the morning, and usually only leave at night after the last session. They do as much as they can while they are there up until the last second. I think it is so neat and they are so dedicated! I definitely miss being able to go to the temple every week. And I feel SOOOO blessed to have so many so close to me in Utah! This week I have realized I need to strengthen my relationship with Jesus Christ. I need to learn more about him and rely on him and apply the atonement. So, I have started to focus on this every morning when I study and I have the felt the spirit stronger! It has been so neat! I am doing well… Christmas is starting to go up everywhere… super strange because each day gets hotter and hotter and the other day I saw a picture an elder had of snow… and my heart loooonnged for it! Oh boy… I better just enjoy the next year and couple months of summer! I love you all and am SOOO grateful for your love and support and our relationships :) Have a good week!!Love, Sister Porath

Hey! I cant believe it is December! Yikes.. anyway, the work is going, but pretty slow. So I will tell you about the city! Everyone blasts their music and tries to make it louder than their neighbors, so you actually cant understand anything because there are 5 different songs playing! The cars all rattle as they drive down the street too. We don’t have water for half of the week. It is really frustrating. They turn it off in the city on Sundays and it comes back Wednesday night or Thursday sometimes. So everyone has a reserve tank and makes it last the whole time. It is hard! Last week we had to shower by bucket for a couple of days but this week I was really good at conserving it and only ran out today… halfway through rinsing the conditioner out of my hair! But a bucket works wonders and I managed to finish just fine. Everyone has a motorcycle or scooter. And if they don’t, they have a bicycle! And the other day I saw a guy washing his, like you would a car. It made me smile! There are a lot of frogs… dried.. and smashed in the middle of the road! Every time I see one, I want to pick it up, stick it in an envelope, and send it home :) There are a billion cats, lots of dogs too. And TONZ of guys that walk around pushing a handcart thingy that has a speaker and says… (I translated it…) Popsicle and Ice Cream!... Caico! (The brand) so if it is in the afternoon, I always want to buy one, and more often than not, I do! It is only 50 centavos here, which is like 25 cents there! All the kids run around in just underwear… its funny! Annnnd it is because it is up to 100 degrees everyday! And only getting hotter… I am going to die! I saw the movie New Moon sitting at some ones house… I wanted to watch it so bad! BUT we are only allowed to watch Disney so I will have to wait. Oh and speaking of the moon, I always look up at night, and if I am feeling homesick, I just think about my family or friends sitting at their houses or wherever… under the same moon :) It makes me feel closer to home… We did have a baptism last week! It was neat, Jorge, a 22 year old boy. He is really nice and always smiling. We don’t have one marked for this week, we are hoping for a miracle! It is hard to find new investigators here… Anyway.. Christmas is getting closer! It is so weird to see all the decorations here, it is fun, but just so different because it is the middle of summer instead of winter! But I love and miss you all and think about you tonz!!... when I have a free minute! Love, Sister Porath :)

This week has been good! I am getting used to the new city, and I love the members here. They actually have a chapel and have a decent size ward, about 200 people. The bishop is amazing and helps us out a lot. We had a zone conference on Monday.. it was really great! We had good training, and I met all the missionaries in my zone. I only knew Elder McKay (who is Sam and Taylor McKays cousin) and a Brazilian Elder Luis (from the MTC.) But everyone else is really nice and really fun! After, about 8 elders, my companion and I went to a Rodigio BBQ place! It was SO good! Then we took a motorcycle taxi back to out house… it was a little scary (in a skirt, sitting sideways!) but it was fun and exciting! And when we were doing visits and lessons and appointments after, I really felt the spirit. And I was so happy and I talked to people on the streets! It was a really, really good day! And also, everyone here does this snap thing, and I never had the desire to do it until today, so I tried it and got it down on like the 3rd try! It was awesome! Ah.. I always think of things I want to write and then I get here and forget everything! Or… I run out of time.. And on that note.. I love you all! I hope you have a great week :) Happy Thanksgiving!!!Love, Sister Porath

I have to start by getting the HUGE elephant out of the room... I was transferred!!! I pretty much knew it was coming, so that Sister Englert could train one of the new girls, but I wasn’t ready for it or for the reality of it really happening. So.. I am now in a city about 2-3 hours inland called Arapiraca. My companion is Sister Zorzo. She is really sweet but doesn’t know any English. She is excited to learn so hopefully we can get a good schedule down and both learn a ton. It is so hard being in a new place, not knowing anyone or anywhere, and not being able to communicate very well. Especially for Christmas this will be hard, but I can do it right?? We do live pretty close to 2 elders, they are our district leaders and serve in the same ward, but the area is split into 2. We have lunch with them everyday and one if them is American so I can talk to him almost everyday so that I wont go insane. His name is Elder Shawcroft and his dad was a mission president in southern Brazil, the Campinas mission! So I was in the very outskirts of Maceio, the huge capital city, before and it seemed like the middle of nowhere. Now I am in a smaller city, but it seems like a bigger city! The roads are either paved, or most of them are big rocks that were laid down and then stuff between them, kind of like tiles.. anyway. It is more city like and I guess I like it. Hahaha We did have another baptism last week. It was a little girl turning 8, her older sister is a member, but her parents aren’t married and aren’t members but she had a big birthday party and baptism. It was a lot of fun! I guess that is all of the news… it is even hotter here.. I don’t like it! I am missing winter a lot! But last week when Sister Englert and I cleaned/defrosted the freezer, I mad a snow man! I will attach a pic, the internet is faster here now that we aren’t in Africa! I love and miss you all, I need your prayers, I need strength, but I know I am where I need to be doing what I need to be doing so The Lord will pull through on His end of the deal. Love you!!
Love, Sister Porath
P.S. Christmas is coming…. And I would love to receive a little love from you in the form of a letter! :)
All I want for Christmas are letters letters letters from everyone! I have been writing Kyler, he seems happy to hear from me and his strength helps me too. I wrote most everything in the weekly email this week… This is really hard but I know it will get better. I will hopefully get to see Sis Englert in a few weeks at Christmas Conference. It will be good to see the new sisters too.

Kiley at the mission home in Maceio Kiley and Sis. Englert

Hey! The wedding and baptism were SOOOO great!!! The cake was gorgeous! We had to run around and get everything ready, we had a lot of help from a few people but it would have been a lot easier if more people had helped… but.. it was beautiful and the family is so happy and strong in the gospel already. It was so cute to see them at church on Sunday, they had their scriptures, and real church clothes (from the wedding) and looked official and like they had been members for years! It has been so neat! All of the other missionaries that I tell the story of them to gets jealous because they have been out a year and still haven’t been able to find an entire family that is ready to live and receive the blessings of the gospel. We had family home evening with them on Monday and we asked Janderson, the 14 year old boy, to prepare a little lesson. He did SO well! He even planned an activity which was questions everyone took turns answering. They were really good and thoughtful. Some were from the lessons we had taught them, some about the gospel, and some he wanted suggestions on how to have a better family night, and how they could be more united and learn as much as possible from the gospel. It is amazing. Next week are transfers… yikes! I will be happy to stay, or to go. I know The Lord is watching over me and knows what I need, and what will be best. I hope you are all letting The Light of Christ shine through you to others… just smile :)Love, Sister Porath

Everything went so well with the wedding and baptism! My feet are good… I just have a huge blister on the side of my big toe, so it doesn’t hurt and I can still walk and wear my sandals and all. It keeps getting smaller, then bigger, then small again and so on… soo I bet it will just be a huge callus. But I did get sandals here and they are great. I got 2 pairs they were on sale and should last me my whole mission. Transfers and new missionaries are next week… so I might be seeing them, soon and might not. I wonder if I will stay or go! Trev is doing a ton of genealogy and when I get home I want to go through the temple with you for everyone in our family. I think it will be SO neat! I am loving the mission and love and miss you all! I think that is all for this week… any questions? Haha thank you for EVERYTHING! I love you so much and an so grateful to be here! Love, me!

For some fun pictures of Kiley and the missionaries of Maceio, Brasil to go brasilmaceiomission.blogspot.com

This week was good! But on Saturday, it is going to be one of the best days in the mission so far! We have been teaching a family, and they are going to be baptized! We are having a big wedding too. A lady is making a big cake, and we are going to have it all decorated, I am so excited! This family is AmAzInG! The dad quit drinking alcohol, the mom quit drinking coffee, and the kids are 14, 11, 10, and 5. We have been teaching them every day and it has been so neat to watch them learn and grow spiritually and gain testimonies. I know they will remain strong, and the dad will be a leader here in the area. Not much else has happened, we just walk a ton, teach a lot, and sweat even more! We had a baptism last Saturday as well, a 15 year old girl. She is really excited and loves coming to church, and the activities. I wish I could carry a video recorder for a whole day so you guys could see what it is like here. It is so different. The other day I killed 2 cockroaches and we found a dead(luckily!) lizard about a foot long…. In our back porch area! The other day, we were walking back from lunch… My companion was on the phone, I was following her, and watching my feet to make sure I didn’t step in anything and I ran into a tree! I don’t even know how it happened, but it scratched my face! My companion is awesome, she is really forward and blunt and isn’t afraid to tell people it is their salvation that they don’t have time for, or care to change for. We laugh a lot, cry a little, and eat a lot of sweets! Haha well… we crave them.. and try to eat them when we can! I hope all is well with everyone, I cant believe it is November!! Keep smiling :)Love, Sis. Porath
Where is Drew going to go to school? Oh tell Mike… everyone here has a water storage tank! Because sometimes the city will just shut off the water…. I remembered that he thought it would be a good idea to invent that. How is his work going? Kins finally emailed me last week, it made me so excited! She didn’t reply yet, so hopefully next week. My comp wants to marry Kyler! Haha Things are good, different and hard, but I am still alive right! Here is more Christmas stuff… we only get letters like once every 3 weeks so hopefully I will get yours soon with the pics! Thanks for everything… I am getting more used to things, and am curious to know if I will be transferred or not. I think I will be fine either way. I know it will be harder with a Brazilian companion that doesn’t know English, but it will force me to improve. I better run, but tell everyone hi and thanks! Love you!!

This week was better! The language... still hard! But we had zone conference which was really spiritual and helped me a ton. We just had training on how to be a better missionary, and President Beynon and his wife both gave really good talks. We found a golden family! We knocked on every door except their´s for some reason, and had a feeling we needed to go back and knock on their door. So we did, and they came to church, and the dad, Nildo, stopped drinking, and the mom, Mariza, quit drinking coffee, and they have 4 kids! Jendersen is almost 14, Vitor is 11, Joyce is 10, and Jamile is 5. They are all so cute and always want to pray, and always read the Book of Mormon and it is SO neat to watch them grow spiritually and gain a testimony. They got married, civilly, and we are going to have a big wedding and baptism for them. I am so excited! The dad is strong. He reads the BoM everyday at work after lunch, even though his coworkers make fun of him! I know they will go through the temple in a year and he will be a leader here in this area. We baptized Edvaldo on Saturday. We found him one of the first days we were here, but then couldn’t find his house. We saw him on the street the next day and he said, I waited for you guys to come and was worried, but then I was comforted and knew I would see you again. He is 21 and is a neat kid. I hope he makes friends in the ward and stays active. We did splits the other day! We had too many appointments in one day so we got a couple of the ward missionaries and split up. Adriana and Wellington (a 17 year old boy who can't wait to be a missionary, super strong, a convert of about a year and a half) came with me and I spoke as much as I could in Portuguese and then they would talk to the people and make sure they understood what was going on and then they bore their testimony. They are super strong and it was a good experience. There is an elder that comes home on Friday, from Kaysville! Bronson Nye, he is awesome! It will be weird when I am in that position. I apologize right now, those of you that know me really well already know, but I either seem to say the same thing like 3 times, or I forget to say it at all. So if I have already written about something, I am sorry! But I love and miss you all and hope you are having a good week!
Love, Sister Porath

The week of random things! I finally realized how hard the mission really is. The language is probably the hardest, everyone says it will come but I don’t understand how. So I had a few days where I just got completely overwhelmed and started crying. So if anyone has advice…. I would love to hear it! BUT we are teaching some awesome people, including a family who is really open to learning everything, and wants what will be best for their kids, they invite us to stay for dinner a lot, and the kids love us. They came to church last week and hopefully will this week and will be able to get married, and be baptized! It is so interesting because we knocked (or clapped) at every house on this street on one side, then crossed to talk to someone on the other side, then we were leaving and my companion said she felt like we should go back and do the one house we had missed, so we did, and this was their house! Also, there is one street, a really long one, that we have been working on everyday, except for one afternoon we decided to start in a new area, and that same day, there was a shooting where we would have been! Nobody died or anything but we were blessed to not be in the area. Sometimes I walk down the street, crunching leaves and think about home :) It makes me wish I was at school… but it makes me feel a tiny bit closer to actually being there! EW. I had to kill a huge cockroach that was in our shower! I will try and send a picture… it was so nasty! And then we had 2 more the next 2 days in our house too! In our district it is just us 2 and 2 elders. They are nice, one is Brazilian and one is American that just got here a transfer before me. My apartment and area is like 30ish minutes from the mission home, but we just have to jump on a bus to get there. We are really close to the airport. We don’t have cars or bikes, we walk! Everywhere always and take a bus or van if we need to go to district meeting or conference or something. The members feed us lunch everyday. It is always rice and beans, meat, juice or soda and maybe some sort of vegetable. It is good especially because we are always so hungry! Then we eat dinner at 9 when we get back and that is just food that we buy, so something simple like rice, soup, noodles, eggs…It is SO hot. I burn even with sunscreen, and drink lots of water and sweat like a pig! It is gross! But then at nights outside, I still get a little cold! Well I love you all and pray for you… pray for me.. I need it!

Thanks for the update on everyone! We did have the baptism! I am trying to upload a picture. Wont work. I sent a letter home today with my christmas wish list, i did buy sandals today though. The mailman said it will take 15 days to get there though! So let me know when you get it. I am trying to get used to things here, its just different! But I love you all, tell everyone hi! Thanks for everything!! Love, Kiley
It is still hard for me to believe that I am a real missionary! This week was good, long, and hard! Not too bad though... I have a billion bug bites, I want a mosquito net! One morning I woke up and my eye was basically swollen shut... bug bite I am guessing, I tried to attach a picture but it wouldnt work! My companion is amazing! She is so cute, so sweet, and helps me with portuguese, and is fluent in english! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful trainer, I wish I could be just like her, right now! We saw a dead turtle in the median of a road, and a 3 foot long dead snake! I am glad it was dead and not alive! I got blisters my first day on my feet, in 2 different places, from 2 sets of shoes so it was hard to figure out which ones to wear, but I got some sandals today that should be perfect! We went downtown today! It was so much fun, like a regular day shopping! Downtown is more like a regular big city, new york or something, but where we live is dirt roads, small simple houses, and just tiny markets to buy everything. I got a skirt too, and some more shampoo and conditioner and body wash. We had a baptism last Saturday night! I really wanted to send a picture but again, it wouldnt work, maybe next week. It was Fatima a 52 year old lady, she is always so excited to see us and is so cute! She doesnt have any teeth and I cant understand what she says but she always wants to hug me! It was really exciting for her, and a great way to start off the mission. We have 5 more scheduled for this transfer so far, One is this Saturday but it is a 14 year old girl Fabi, and we have to get her moms permission and she doesnt want her to so we are praying and doing all that we can to help her. I will write about the others when they get closer.. We have a mission blog...Brasilmaceiomission.blogspot.comYou can go there and see new pictures and stuff! Being a missionary is great! It gets hard, but is rewarding when you help the people have such happiness in their lives :) I hope you are all doing well and striving to be the best you can be!! I love and miss you! Love, Sister Porath

More pictures of Kiley and Missionaries

Pictures of our dear missionaries.

Last day at MTC:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikaguima/

Erika Guimar�es.

Maceio!!

Hey! We get 200 Reis, which is roughly $100 a month. For food and everything so I hope it will last right. I would love to serve in an orphanage too. If I still have more free single adult time... I really want to do it! Thanks for the advice, I love you! Wow! I love Maceio! Yesterday was such a great day, we flew out, were greeted by President and Sister Beynon (who definately knew I was coming, and were so excited for me to come!) They are amazing! I am so grateful to be serving with them. President said this first transfer I am going to need to remind myself to survive. Everyday, and then it will get easier and I will be able to serve with all of my heart! My companion, Sister Englert, is amazing! She knows English, but is from the southern part of Brazil. She is such an awesome missionary, really confident. I cant wait to learn everything from her and be just like her. After going to the mission home for lunch, orientation and meeting everyone, we headed to our apartment. It is little and just cement walls, tiled floor... very humble. I even saw my first cockroach run under my bed. Ah! haha But we arrived there, and sat down and she said, Lets get to work! So we pulled out the area book and read about the investigators in the area (because she was transferred here too, so we both dont know where anything is, and I dont know the language!) and we planned who we would go meet, and teach. We didnt even know where they lived. But she just asked people on the way. And then we ran into a lady and her 2 kids who are members. Danielle is a 9 year old girl and she showed us where the streets and houses were that we were looking for to teach them. She even sat through all of the lessons with us. I will never forget this sweet girl and all that she did for us. It was a simple miracle. I am so excited to be here and to do this work everyday! I know it will be hard, but it will be so worth it! We even have a lady, who the other missionaries taught and she was going to be baptised on the 24th, but my companion asked her to move it up, so she is going to get baptized this week I think! SO neat! I love this work and am so excited and grateful to be here. The weather is nice, very sunny (I am glad, I missed the sun while I was in Sao Paulo) But also hot, we havent been out in it too much because it was dark last night at 7 when we went out. So today will be the test, but there is also a breeze which is nice. I am in the area that is farthest from downtown, big city, beach! But it is fine, it is kind of like the countryside and all of the houses are little, and the roads are very bumpy and all dirt. My p-day is now wednesday as you can probably tell. I was so lucky and blessed to have a letter and package waiting for me at the mission home!! :) The package was from my teacher at the CTM, Irma Erika... she is SUCH a neat girl! I miss her already and hope she is doing well :) It had candy, sunscreen, toothbrush stuff. notebook, pens... so many things that I need! I am so grateful to have had her as my teacher, and now as a friend! I will only be able to get mail every 3 weeks or so, but would still love to get lots :) I do know that when I am more focused here, and know the language better, it will be easier to forget myself, and not worry/think about things at home or with all of my friends, and just serve 100% and put my whole heart into it. I know this will prove to be the best time of my life if I can to that! Conference.... What an amazing little shove out the MTC doors and into the field.... oh boy! It was amazing! I swear each time it gets better and better. And I felt like all of it applied to missionary work! I know we need to have the spirit... and the way we can do that is by being obedient. An elder at the MTC gave me and my comps a blessing before we all left. I was blessed with health and strength IF I am obedient. I know this will be true and I am trying my best! I am so so grateful to be here, I know this is where I should be, I love this gospel so much! I love you all! Have an awesome week.... take a picture of the changing leaves for me :) Love, Sister Porath

A Link to pictures of Kiley and fellow missionaries!

Hi Family Porath, Family Read, Family Young, Family Wardle, Family Smith, Family Feuz and Family Keicher!

This is the Link with all the pictures of our dear district ( last p.day in S�o Paulo )


http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikaguima/


Have a great day!

Erika Guimar�es.

Hey! I am flying to Maceio with 5 or 6 Brazilian Elders and 1 Brazilian Sister… I don~t feel quite ready to jump into all Portuguese but I don’t feel like I would be able to get much better staying at the CTM any longer. I just need to take the plunge! I cant wait to see wedding pictures… Wish I could have been there. Let me know all the details too! Oh they are just driving to Cali for their honeymoon? Are they staying at Crosbys place again? I cant believe they are married! I don’t know when my pday will be… it was good to hear about Tay and Kins, please tell them I REALLY want them to write me! I even emailed Kins and she didn’t reply. They can just email.. its fine but I miss them so much. I hope Mike can be successful with the loan officer! Will you post a status update on facebook when you add my email to my blog? Also put my email address on there and tell people they can email me whenever! Irma Erika said she doesn’t need the ring anymore… so maybe we can still just buy her one? I want to call you guys! Do you have a calling card with minutes? I guess the only way if you do have one, is you can write me on Dear elder and it will get to me before I leave and let me know all the info. If not.. its fine I guess, but President Woodward did say it is ok to call. I love you mom! Thanks for everything.. I sent a few pics home today with a letter, were you able to look at all of them from Irma Erika? Thanks again! This week has been a good one! We went proselyting again, in the big city! We went to a plaza… it was so neat! Just a big open space with people sitting everywhere. The first lady we talked to seemed really interested, after we were done and walked away, she kept reading the Book of Mormon! She was super sweet and was helping us when we struggled with a Portuguese word. We talked to a guy from Africa… in English! Because he doesn’t know Portuguese. He said he had a friend in Africa who was a member and he always wondered about our church like the origin, and why we are called latter day saints. So we taught him all about the restoration and it was awesome! It is hard to know if anything will come out of handing out all of the Book of Mormons but I bet eventually, somewhere down the road, it will bless or convert someone. At least I can tell myself that right :) Ok also… since we have been at the CTM FOREVERRRRR my companions and I decided to have some fun. We put on a puppet show! Hahaha It was SO much fun and ended up being really funny! We stole silverware from the cafeteria, made a dress for the sisters, and put toothpicks on for arms… And hung up a sheet, turned off the lights, and used the flashlight, and acted out a day in the life at the CTM! Almost all of the American sisters came, and a few of the Brazilians, and they all laughed a lot! The elders said they heard us, from the 6th floor! (and we are on the 2nd :) It was through the windows though. Anyway… just a little something for all of the girls to remember us by! I have to say the closing prayer tonight at the devotional…. In PORTUGUESE! I am nervous! Praying was the first thing we learned how to do, on like the 2nd day, but still… I have a feeling I am going to get up there and totally blank! I might not be able to write next week… but I hope I can after I get to Maceio! I love you all and am so grateful for your support and willingness to listen about my adventures! Keep smiling!! Love, Kiley

This week was pretty uneventful... but a good one! Only 2 more here! I fly out on October 6th, I was thinking If I had a calling card, or the numbers for one, I could call from the airport if I get a chance. But I have no clue! I forgot my paper that said everything I wanted to tell you all, ugh. I hope Tanner and Kelsey´s wedding goes well, just know I would do anything to be there, it kills me to be here instead. But even though it is hard I am grateful to be here. I have such a strong testimony of this gospel, of Jesus Christ, and His Atonement. I know Joseph Smith was called of God to restore this wonderful gospel on the earth again. The Book of Mormon is SO true and can help us through anything! I am getting so excited to be able to get into the real world, teach families and talk to people, and improve my Portuguese. I love you all and love hearing from you! My mission home address is
Brazil Maceio Mission
Rua Dom Antônio Brandão, 333
Ed. Work Center - Sl. 402 - Farol
57021 - 190 - Maceio - AL
BRAZIL
I printed some pics off, I may send some home, and then if you want to keep them, or give them to Grandma to scrapbook or something... who knows! That is fun for tanner and spence at farmington wrestling! Once again... wish I could be there! and you should have mike help you get a forward email list or something, a lot of people have asked me about being on one. I got Debbie Garners card, tell her thank you so much! And she can write me and I will reply... I can only print off my emails if I go out of the MTC to email. I will probably be able to more often when I get in the field. But it depends on if there is a printer and stuff. Oh... you got the blog to work.... GOOD!! Thank you for everything! Irma Erika was SO excited you emailed her! She said thank you for saying all the nice things!

Letter from Kiley's teacher with a link to pictures!

Hi Family Porath!

This is Erika, I am Sister Porath´s teacher. Last p.day our district went to eat Sushi, I took some pictures and I would like to share with you.

This is the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42587855@N02/show/

I hope you like it!

Hugs, Erika Guimarães

Sept 15th

got the package last week! Thank you so much! Everyone in my district enjoyed the fruit snacks, even my teachers! They dont have ones like that here and thought it was funny, LOVE the my little pony! Last thursday was a really hard day for our district, one of our elders went home. He had been struggling here and just wasnt happy. We are hoping he can get things figured out and come back out! But we´ll see. Everyone cried, even the boys. It was really sad. BUT friday was amazing! We got to go proselyting! We each got 2 Book of Mormons and got to walk around outside the CTM (in our boundaries) and hand them out. It was SO neat and made me really feel like a missionary! We gave them all away in the first hour! All the people were really nice and I really hope that they will read them and they will want to know more, or meet with the real missionaries. I was surprised at how well I could talk to the people. I definately have a TON of room for improvement, but we got the point across and that is what counts. We were so excited to tell both of our teachers about our experience, and all of the other sister missionaries too. Being coordinating sisters is fun. We were already pretty close to most of the girls but this has made our love for them grow. Some of the new Brazillian sisters that got here last week, asked us if we will teach them english everynight for 30 minutes, and they will help us with our Portuguese. We have only done it once, but it was so neat! I can~t wait to be a teacher! They are SO cute and so sweet and it is so beneficial for all of us! We went to the temple again and saw a cute Brazillian sister that was here in the CTM with us, she was so excited to see us and it was fun seeing her! I cant wait to be a REAL missionary, instead of just one in training! Our district leader shared a wonderful thought with us. It was about Christ, and suffering in the Garden. We all need to go there with him. He has suffered for our sins, and he still is. Each time we are sad, or struggling- He wishes we werent. It is still hard for him to let us go through it, but he really has felt all of our pain before and is there standing next to us, to help us with everything. I love this fact and I am so grateful for Christ. For His love, and for His sacrifice. I am so grateful for my knowledge about him and of this gospel. It truely does strengthen families and bring happiness into our lives. I only have 3 more weeks of training and then it is out into the big bad real life world for me! I cant wait! I know it is going to be SO hard, but it will be worth it! I love you all! Keep smiling :)Mom! I am glad the kids went to kennys homecoming.. I really hope he is doing ok. It has to be SO hard to find a job and get some money to live on for him. I did get the email from Mr. Barney- I dont think I replied though! I need to! THere has only been one Brazillian sister that went to my mission a few weeks ago, she is cute! THere is another one that comes in on thursday so I am looking forward to meeting her and there are like 7 elders going to maceio, Brazillian, but they are who I will travel with. My address is the same that I gave everyone I think, so you guys can send stuff there and I will get it, I will check on it for sure and tell you what it is next week. School is always busy for you! I am glad you like it this year. How is your ankle? Are you healed? Thanks again for the package! It is annoying that it is so expensive to send! I dont need another one... until Christmas! And you can put more stuff from my room in it, thanks! Like facewash.... and prob more sunscreen... I´ll let you know more what I need when the time comes. Irma Erika added me on facebook, so you can accept it for me and talk to her a little, she knows english! and tell her to tell me hi or something! She is SO amazing! Also... her friend send her a CTR ring, but it is too big. Could you maybe get her a smaller one and send it to her? I will send it to you guys in a package next week.. Maybe just look into it, she needs like a 4.5 i think. SO you will prob have to special order it. It is the one with the butterflies on it. So check on that, and let me know. Thanks! I want to hear from tanner kinsey and taylor, and kels agaiN! I will try and shoot them all an email. I love you and am so grateful for your example! Have a good week! LOVE YOU! -----Original Message-----

September 8 (Sorry I was so late!)

This week was another great one! We had a missionary conference on fast sunday and we had really neat speakers! One Brazillian mission president related us missionaries to being the lighthouses to the brazillian people. It was neat! We learned that we really need to understand what we are teaching, and have a burning testimony of each part so that we can teach from our hearts. It is easy in english... VERY hard in portuguese! I dont have tonz to say this week, I did get an ear infection, and my cold has never fully gone away, so that hasnt been very fun. I slept until 4 on one day last week to try and get feeling better. I went to the doctor here and he gave me an antibiotic and some ear drops. It doesnt really hurt anymore but my ear is still clogged and I can~t hear out of it. It is annoying! Another boy from Davis got here this week, Jay Faust, I think he was on the basketball team. And Jordan Stuart left. It was sad! He is really cool, he said he will let me know how big of a difference it is out in the field than it is here in the CTM! It was sad seeing the sisters leave this week, I have a feeling it is going to be me before I know it! I love you all and hope everything is going well!
Love, Kiley

September 8th (Sorry I didn't get it up sooner!)
This week was another great one! We had a missionary conference on fast sunday and we had really neat speakers! One Brazillian mission president related us missionaries to being the lighthouses to the brazillian people. It was neat! We learned that we really need to understand what we are teaching, and have a burning testimony of each part so that we can teach from our hearts. It is easy in english... VERY hard in portuguese! I dont have tonz to say this week, I did get an ear infection, and my cold has never fully gone away, so that hasnt been very fun. I slept until 4 on one day last week to try and get feeling better. I went to the doctor here and he gave me an antibiotic and some ear drops. It doesnt really hurt anymore but my ear is still clogged and I can~t hear out of it. It is annoying! Another boy from Davis got here this week, Jay Faust, I think he was on the basketball team. And Jordan Stuart left. It was sad! He is really cool, he said he will let me know how big of a difference it is out in the field than it is here in the CTM! It was sad seeing the sisters leave this week, I have a feeling it is going to be me before I know it! I love you all and hope everything is going well!
Love, Kiley

hey! this week was good! Nothing TOO exciting, but we got to go to the Campinas Temple today! Look it up, it is beautiful! and has an amazing view. It is in a different part of the city and all the houses are really nice. I even saw an audi up there! My companions and I got called to be the new coordinating sisters this week, for the rest of the time we are here. We will be in charge of welcoming all the girls, even the brazillian sisters! It will be hard, to speak to them, but really rewarding. We are really excited! Ok so... I love you all dearly, BUT I still haven~t gotten a letter from ANYONE!!! SLACKERS!! I finally got my first letter like last thursday, but it was from Ryan Prince. So.... hopefully I have a lot on the way or maybe I will soon?? SO glad to hear everyone is related to my mission presidents! Tell them to warn Him and his wife that I am coming! haha How much longer do they have out there can you find out? I should know, but I dont. My companions are great, they are so smart and know EVERYTHING about the gospel, I have a TON to learn from them, but they help keep me going. I haven~t heard from kins.... I really hope she is ok! You can teach her how to drive my car and work all that out however you want, whatever is best! What happened with her accident? How is she liking school? And Tay? Did Tanner start this semester? I havent heard from any of the kids except Kelsey!! I had a rough day the other day, got really frustrated because we taught a lesson in portuguese and our teacher wasn~t very nice while being an investigator, and then he wasn~t very nice about giving us criticism. So the next day I fasted and just really prayed for strength, and that is when we got our calling, and a we got a letter from an elder that left here a few months ago, and my desire and strength was just renewed! It was SO humbling, and I really needed that to happen because I was letting myself be homesick and wish I were there instead of here. But I am once again so grateful to be here, especially with the spirit that is here at the MTC. I love it and love all that I am learning. My testimony is growing so much and I cant wait to teach people and share this happiness :)Sorry if its scattered again.... I miss and love you. Thank you for everything!! Love, Kiley

This week was great! Last Tuesday, on pday there was a huge rain storm! It came so quickly, and was raining SO hard. The streets all flooded and there are hills, and everyone just stood on the sidewalks inside all of the little stores. We were at a little grocery store! But we were with our teacher sister Erika and she made us wait there until it slowed down, it only took about 30 mins. She is the sweetest little lady ever! She is like 4 feet tall and 27 I think. She wants to move to Utah, and I really really hope she can. She has been saving for a long time and I am going to keep in touch with her and help her if I can! She brings us treats like every day and is a really good teacher. Last week we went with her and got pastels, which are this pastry, filled with strawberries and chocolate and deep fried... SO good!! I have learned a lot of the language, but from just trying to buy a pillow at a store..... I don~t know anything! It is rough! haha it was hilarious. There was a teenage boy and I said (in portuguese) I want this. He said this?... Then He spit out a long sentence and I just stared at him. I kinda figured out that he meant the lady who owned the store wasnt there and I had to wait until she got back before I could buy it. Because he was looking up and down the street and also because that is what a lot of people would do in Chile last year. So we waited a minute and tried to communicate and realized how much we DONT know! But Gospel wise.. we know a lot! We are working on teaching the first lesson in portuguese. It is going pretty good, but still rough. Tomorrow we have to go 24 hours with out speaking english, I am SO worried!!! A quote from the Joseph Smith movie we watched on Sunday, ...The Lord calls us in our weakness, but he qualifies us for His work. It really hit me! That is totally how I feel! So weak and like I dont know anything, but I know if I work my hardest then I will be able to be a successful missionary for Him. I forgot that Nik Whitaker was Joseph from 14-17ish in that movie, it was cool. You can go to Dear Elder.com and write me I think! Maybe tell my friends to do that, or through missionties if you guys end up doing that, but I will only be here 6 more weeks so depending on how much it costs, we can just wait and see or something! It has been really cold here! And I was sick with a cold, so that made it all worse but I am kind of almost better so that is good! Classes are good, the language is coming... its hard but I am trying! I am still learning more and more about the gospel, It is a really great experience! I think I am going to buy a backpack so that my suitcase isnt over weight! There is a store here that has them and customizes them it is about $35. It will be good to have too if I ever need just an overnight bag or something. I love hearing from you! Tell Tanner, Kins and Tay I want to hear from them too!! Kelsey did write, and Grandma too... I don~t know why they wont forward, but the blog should be fine for now, make sure if you see Kenny to have him write me. Ah and tell him I am SO sad. I miss him so much I started crying when you said he came over! Did you guys all get my letters? I feel like there is more to write, but I can~t think of anything! And time is going quickly. So until next week, I love you! Love, Kiley

That is cool about my mission president, I should have asked the Beynons! I don~t think the email forwarded either... I dont know why. But maybe see if Tanner will help you figure it out. I haven~t heard from anyone else besides lindsey sweat, well rose! Only elder Eggertz is going to Maceio, all the other ones are going to Maneus, in the amazon! There should be another picture email coming, of us in front of the temple! I love going, we went again today, i dont think we will next time. Did missionties email you? If they didn~t then go to missionties.com and see if you can sign up, then i could get letters (emails) daily instead of only on tuesday in 30 minutes! I don~t know how much it is, but you can use my money too. Did you guys all get the letters that i sent? Lindsey said she was so happy to see you all at their reception! I am SO sad I wasn~t there. For the package, if you could maybe find a few little a-z address books so i can write down scriptures and stuff all under like the category hope, and be able to find it, i think that would be super helpful! Sorry about the not caps and no apostrophes this keyboard is weird and i am trying to hurry! I am sorry you have to be on crutches for longer! I really hope your ankle will be all the way better! Tell Debbie thanks and I would love to hear from her. I agree with what AJ said! I am sad to miss the logan reunion as well! Tell Tay good luck with soccer, that will be good for him! Tell Linda thanks! Thats too bad trevs roommate is struggling.... hopefully trev isn~t upset about it. I hope and pray that Mike will get a job! Have tanner or kinsey ask stephen about trevors xbox.... he needs to pick it up, cuz the guy couldn~t fix it or something. I got sick last week, just my stomach being dumb and the food doesn~t help AT ALL! But I am doing a little better... also when i was running during gym, my ankle kind of just went out and uh.. I face planted it! And it happened twice, so i dont run anymore because my ankles are retarded! This letter is SO scrammbled i~m sorry! We have 3 firesides a week, and they are always wonderful! One of them this week was a stake president here in brazil, and him and his wife are both converts and they were amazed at how many missionaries are here. they still think of the missionaries that taught them as angels and it was so neat to hear from them and realize that that will be me they are talking about soon! We got new blankets here, exactly like my white fuzzy one at home! The first day it made me super homesick! Now I love it though :) I have been dreaming so much though, and not sleeping very well... sarah is an amazing helicopter driver and courtney had a beautiful short sparkly maid of honor dress at lindseys wedding! We started giving the short lesson in portuguese! It is hard but is so neat! I have learned SO much! I love the gospel and am so grateful to be here! I miss the stone and maughan kids so much!!! We watched the legacy in port. on sunday... with english subtitles, it was neat. I LOVED the quote at the end, Promise me my legacy of faith will never die. That is how I feel!! I need Dane~s address! haha I will have to get it next week or something, I am running out of time. I love you guys so much! Write me back! Sorry this was all so scattered... I am glad michells wedding went well!I might try to get on again, but if not... next week. eventually i will figure out this system. i LOVE YOU!!!!!love, sister kiley :)

Kiley's first email-August 11, 2009

Wow! It has been an adventure! miss you all SOOO much! This email is going to be kind of scattered because I am trying to hurry. I am at this place called Mr. Cheneys cookies and I am going to send something about joining missionties, I think it is 10 dollars and they scan our letters in or email you so they get there in 2 days, and you can write to me on missionties.com and it will get to me in the mail (they print it off and take it to the mtc) in like 1 day! So that would be really nice so that it doesnt take weeks to get the letters. Pday is tuesday, so I will get to email every week. The flight over was good, I only cried a little at the airport! This city is crazy huge! It has been nice weather, like 75-80 but today it is like 68ish and kinda rainy. Our teachers are really cool! They are brazilllian and reallly funny and are returned missionaries and kind of know english. Brother Bonofacio, and Sister Erika. The food is... interesting. I think they try to make us happpy by having some american food. We had hot dogs once, and french fries twice! Pasta, and chicken nuggets were super yummy too! But the rest is some sort of flavored meat, sometimes its nasty. Lots of salad and weird veggies, fruit every day, rolls, rice and beans every meal! My companions are awesome. Sister Read is from colorado, she has short red hair and reminds me of melissa heath(its a good thing, I miss you Meliss!). We get a long good. Sister Young is from provo, but she claims to be from alaska because her family moved there while she was going to BYU (her family moved around a lot her dad was in the military.) She is always giving compliments and reminds me of my roommate Katie sometimes J I need everybodies addresses! Unless... maybe all my friends could email you mom, in order to send through missionties if you decide to do that, so it would be quick, and make good use of the money! But friends and family.... Send me your home addresses just in case! And you can respond email, I will probably write a huge one back to my mom and have her divy(dish) them out ot each of you because I reallly want to keep in touch! I love and miss you all! The MTC President and Sister Woodward are amazing! She has been reallly sweet and always asks me if I am doing alright. There are 6 boys from davis here right now! Austin cooper, taylor read, taylor sorensen, kyle mcleod and (someone)hansen. Cooper and Mcleod talk to me when we run into each other, Coop the other day was all... are you doin alright, its kind of a hard adjustment! It was sweet. Have I gotten any letters at home? Send them to me if I have please!! I think it is 3 stamps, but I`m not positive. .I cant think of anything else I wanted to say, I know there is more but just ask questions and I will answer them. I love being here (most of the time) I feel trapped sometimes because I cant go anywhere without my comps and we can only leave the building (5 block boundary) on pday! I am learning so much! It is hard but will be worth it. They threw us into learning portuguese and I am doing pretty well... but still have MUCH more to learn! I love you all and hope to hear back! Love, Sister (weird!) Kiley PorathP.S.Happy Birthday Drew!!P.P.S Did you get the email that they sent you withthe district picture? One of the elders reminds me so much of Drew!

Bridal Shower #2

One of my best friends, Lindsey, is getting married in a week! We threw her a last minute shower. It was so much fun to get everyone together! I love all these friends and wish I could be at Lindsey's wedding.... but her and Ryan will be happy!

Also.... a few of my recents posts have been out of order so scroll down to find the other new ones! :)

A glimpse from the past...

2 years ago at Kenny's farewell....

He gets home in 3 weeks... I leave in 2 days.

I miss him so much!

tHiNgS i aM gOiNg tO MiSs...

• My Family
• Friends
• Utah
• Air Conditioning
• Movies
• Music
• Sleeping in
• Going to the temple whenever I want/need to
• babies... nannying...
• swimming! [and boating]
• Weddings, babies born, graduations, more weddings, friends coming home
• winter-snowboarding
• a white Christmas

tHiNgS i nEeD tO GeT uSe To:

• dirt floors
• spiders, bugs, rats...EW
• not always having hot water (or water at all...)
• barely a washer, NO dryer
• the HEAT and humidity
• waking up early
• always being positive
• wearing a skirt
• always being with another girl instead of my boy..
• speaking portuguese!

.and i'm pretty sure both lists go on and on. yikes.

My farewell...

This is what happens when you let your darling 6 year old niece use the camera... :]

Missing Katie :(

It was a LONG day! [ok and marinda woke up before I took the pic, but I wanted her to pretend to sleep annnnnd she failed! haha]

Bridal shower #1

I threw a bridal shower for my soon-to-be sister-in-law (with a LOT of help from my mom, and others!) It was a lot of fun and turned out well! We started with dinner, had people fill out advice for Kels, guess how many starbursts were in a jar (the winner got to keep it,) split into 3 teams and had them all design a wedding dress out of toilet paper and Kelsey chose her favorite, the winning team got candy bars. We also had a mad libs story where everyone chose a random word (place, number, adjective...etc.) and threw them all in a story, it was hilarious! We also played an ABC game where everyone had to come up with as many wedding related words as they could, one for each letter, and everyone was assigned a letter to bring a gift (that started with the letter) and also a food storage item that starts with the same letter as their name. We had about 40 people in our house and it was fun to meet all of the people that are important to Kelsey! She is such a doll and we are so excited and happy for her to [officially] become a part of our family!

Notice the gifts... from the beginning.. until the end! They are so blessed they won't have to buy anything at their new apartment!

Kels and Devyn [the maid of honor] are CHEESY!

Sharla (our stepsister) made this apron... it is DARLING! and also the colors Tanner and Kelsey want for their kitchen! (She didn't even know!)

Keep tuned for another bridal shower!

cutest little park ever!

SO cute and so fun! The ferris wheel was my favorite, it reminds me of the 50's, or like the one on the notebook :) The octopus was such a fun ride! We went on it twice! We were the oldest kids there, and I think we had the most fun! Even the 16 year old ride opperator guy was laughing at us. Loved watching the little kids on the merry-go-round, and the flying airplane. Olivia started crying, and sarah, her mom, said to just keep going and she would be fine. Well.. she stopped crying and basically bit onto the side of the airplane the rest of the ride! They even had the most ghetto mini golf course. LOVE this place!