Hello family! Another week has gone by, and i am proud to say that this week was much better than the last week, much much better, so that is an improvement! our usual supermarket and place to email was closed unexpectedly, so we freaked out and walked through alot of downtown londrina to find another place to email. well i didnt really freak out, it was just other missionaries, i actually liked it alot because we got to go through downtown londrina, walk past all the busiest parts and shops, and just enjoy londrina. well i did. and we found a place! so now i am here :)

ok so thank you family for the email! the first thing i want to say is that the emails are in no way a waste of time, i love them very much, and they help me out during the week! so keep em coming just like this.

im glad to hear that penn state won again, it sounds like i am missing out on a good season, but maybe the more penn state fans as missionaries, the better, if that makes any sense. we are!!

my homesickness is still around, its not going anywhere, but thats just part of being a missionary i think. it got better this week, i think the more competent of a missionary i become through language and such the more i will feel like i am needed and belong here, and the more i´ll be willing to wait for things in america, although i will always miss michelle, and i will always miss you guys, and i will always miss america.

its true, my companion does some things that i do not approve of, but i thought about it during this week and i decided, exactly like you said, so just be patient and do what i know is right, and be an example. also, because im able to talk more, im taking more action to keep things going, like starting the message at appointments, ect ect.

well first of all, this week as i have previously said was much much better than last week. the weather was gorgeous here, and i like it alot here when the weather is nice. it makes me think ´i can do this for 2 years´althogh its significantly less than 2 years already, so enough of that, already 1/4 of a year down! (ps right now justin beiber is playing in this internet cafe, are you kidding me?) but the weather here is great, and let me explain why. well apparently because there is so much wind and not huge mountains here, (although its fertile soil) it gets really cool at night, every night even in the summer, and heats up in the day. so in the morning i wake up all cold to mid or high 60s temperature, which is my favorite temperature, and put on my columbia fleece for a few hours, eat some granola cereal, and just get to start off my day right. it also never gets higher than 80 ot 85 right now, and were not quite in the heat of summer yet but its not going to get much worse, so that is good!

ive been practicing the paino more, and i can play a few hymns! guitar class really helped me out alot, and whatever skill i have or dont have when i return, i will definitely build on and practice so that i can play music for my young wife michelle, and my family and whoever! its more versatile than guitar, and ill play both, but still its exciting for me! im glad i bought a simplified hymn book while i was stil in the MTC

christmas music has been all ive been listening to on the ipod, im just getting pumped for a winter that will never come, but it still makes me happy! also i hear that around christmas we do lots and lots of fun stuff as a mission with sister and president tavares, so im excited for that, but most of all to be able to talk to you guys!!

dad, and uncle matt if he is interested, i just want you guys to know that ive seen not just one, but TWO people wearing LT chargers jerseys thinking that they are sweet. haha lt isnt even on the team anymore, but i just thought you guysd appreciate that the chargers fanbase reaches the farmlands of londrina

another shoutout to dad, and joseph mostly, but of course to everyone, in a training that we had by president tavares this past week, we watched a clip of band of brothers, when theyre taking carentan. like a full 5 minute clip of the action sequence, i was like what the heck! band of brothers on the mission??! haha i loved it, and it made me proud of america, very much so

at this point in my mission, a month into the actual field, ive had 3 people ask me if i am german, before they ask if im american or anything, they ask if i am from germany. what?! this does not bode well for the previous paragraph, but i always settle it and proclaim my aleigance, to the flag, of the united states of america. my hair is getting pretty long, good thing its curly, because you cant really tell, and the longer i can keep it the better. there are some missionaries with suprisingly longer hair than i thought allowed, so im going to be able to have it a good length while im here

we also watched the story of john tanner, the video, and i love that story! i encourage all to watch the video the church has on it, and the principles of sacrafice, consecration, and just immense faith that he had, it inspired me, and im sure it will inspire all of you!

another thing about brazilians from this week, i had something that was interesting last night at an FHE. direct translation, its official name is ´bread and meat´they just slab a hunk of meat, ridiculous amounts of miracle whip, and pasta sauce on bread, and just go for it. it made me feel disgusting to eat, mostly all the miracle whip, but anyways...

so one of the missionaries who was an A P in my house got transfered to iguacu falls, and he got replaced my an elder pope. and last night, during the middle of the night, i was scared beyond anything before, seriously ever. he has once and a while basically a mix between night terrors and sleepwalking, he was running around screaming and joker laughing through the house, and then he came back to the room and started slamming things on the floor, and pounding his chest and screaming, and i was just laying in my bed motionless with fear, we all were, and after literally 20 minutes of this, with parts where he would just stand there, motionless and silent, he just got into bed and kept sleeping. it was so scary, i am scared to sleep tonight haha! it was nuts, i cant even describe to you what it was like.

i hope you like the pictures! just some more landscape, and a banana pizza that we made, and my little living space where i study and literally do everything in the house other than sleep, so enjoy! i´ll try to get more of actually me for next time, i promise

anyways i hope this email was good, i love you guys so much! plewase keep me in your prayers, because youre always in mine, and michelle i hope you get my letters, and i get yours next week, family i hope that you all do okay this week, dad i will pray for your surgery, i love you all so much! have a great week, and know that i am being the best missionary i can be, your missionary! with love, talk to you next week!

-Elder zachary paul hoskin