From Portugal!

Hey so its my first message from portugal! Iºm really loving it here. I feel so at home, even from the first day i got here. I dont understand like anyone, but thats ok...Im learning....and i dont know how to put apostraphies using this portuguese keyboard...so i wont. Anyway, My first week I had a baptism!!!! yay! his name is Fredrico, hes 19. Hes a really cool guy. We have 1 investigator thats gonna be baptised this friday too! AND theres this brazillian couple (theyre really funny, i like them alot) that are going to be baptised soo (i hope) they just have to go to church 2 more times....they have a hard time waking up for church....its not a good excuse, but thats what they say. the wife is having a hard time cuz her mother is having problems with her gastric or whatever in her stomach, so were fasting for her and shes fasting for her. It was really cool when she told us about that and we told her about fasting. Really spiritual.
And in other news, yesterday something really cool happened. We were walking down the street, and we hear this guy say "O elder" so we turn and wave...because Helder is a portuguese name and the portuguese think its fun to yell O HELDER at us...cuz its like someone walking around with the title of John or something. So anyway, we turn and wave. and keep on walking but then he was like "espara! espera!" So we turn and he runs over to us, and hes in tears. He said something like "you guys always show up at the right time, my life is horrible I dont know what to do, everything is just so hard, etc. and i need to know if god loves me" So, we talked with him for a very little time...cuz he was in a hurry for something. But were going to visit him tonight, It was a really awesome experience.
The last few days have been really good for contacting too. We have about 5 new investigators! I dont really do much of the talking cuz i dont understand much of whats said...but i do sometimes...bear my testimony or whatnot. And one time i did teach the first lesson...or atleast about half of it.
But everything is going good, Im loving every minute here. And Im uploading some picture here:

http://www.ctrhomes.net/Img/

I dont know how many I can actually upload cuz the internet here is kinda slow and pictures are kinda big and I only have about 20 more minutes...so well see.
I love you all and cant wait to hear from you
BTW, my address here is:
Rua dr. Manuel Fernandes Duarte,
nº5 r/c Dro,
2780 Oeiras, Portugal.
oh ya...and my companions name is Elder Petty...Hes reallly cool. we get along really well, and hes been in the mission for 1.5 yrs and hes from Kansas. and like my address says, my area is Oeiras. Its really pretty here, I love it.

ULTIMO SEMANA!

so I only have 4 days before I'm gonna be in portugal! thats so crazy. This week was the semana de missionario. We had to set up and teach 5 lessons a day to other missionaries, acting as investigators. It has been so fun! prolly my most fun weeks here at the MTC. But also this week has been kinda bitter-sweet.
We lost 2 people in our district. Elder Pruyt had to go home because he needed surgery on his shoulder. I admired Elder Pruyt alot cuz he had a really hard time with the language, but he still pushed forward.
AND my good friend Elder Wangamen left for personal reasons, but its for good reasons and I'm almost certian that he'll return. So thats all good.
If anyone wants to send me some dearelder.com letters before I leave this will be your last chance to do so!!!!!!
Love you all! and I cant wait to bring the happiness of the gospel to the people in portugal!
PAZ FORA!
-Rhett

Ta'se Bem everybody!

I GOT MY TRAVEL PLANS!!! I leave on Aug 21. I leave the MTC at 6:00 and I leave UT at 10:00 so i'll prolly call at like between 9 and 10. but then I go to Phili, arrive there at 4:35 Pensylvania time. I leave Phili at 6:55pm, arrive In Paris at 8:35 am paris time. then I leave Paris at 12:45pm and arrive in Portugal at 2:15pm Pretty cool.
I'm way excited to leave but i dont think I know the language well enough...infact I know i dont...but it will all come with time in portugal.
In the RC this week, i talked to 6 people, and 4 of them wanted copies of the book of mormon and missionaries!!!! it was awesome...the other 2: one was getting a haircut and wanted us to call back tomorrow, and the other, the reception was really bad and it cut out. Anyway, it was still way cool. I'm excited to get out in the campo and teach everyone and bring to light the truths that everyone needs!
anyway...I'm done.
Love you all!
-Elder Hildebrandt

2 MORE WEEKS!

yes 2 more weeks here at the MTC. I cant wait. I day from today i get my travel plans! i'm so excited!!!! i cant wait to get to Portugal!
The MTC seems like home now, i'm used to the whole routine (sp?) Oh! and now my district is the oldest district in our zone! we're the Velhotes (old farts) now! its so cool. I dont think I know that much Portuguese, but i guess the new district thinks we do. its crazy.
Me and my companion have a new rule now, for every english word we say, we have to do 10 pushups....we started this 3 days ago...ive had to do 200 pushups so far! lol
um...what else has happened.....No really big RC story this week. I did have a good time this thursday. I talked to 3 different people and all 3 accepted a copy of the book of mormon and representatives to visit them. One was a lady that had just lost her daughter, and 4 other people in the last year. I had a good conversation with her, she was pretty sad and had been relying on the lord alot. Another was this guy, when i called him to confirm that he got his DVD he ordered, he said that he had already been called 6 times about it. I appologized, bore my testimony, shared a short message about the restoration and asked if some missionaries could drop off a book of mormon. He seemed very intelectual and said he was content with his faith, but wouldnt be opposed to learning more. so he accepted. it was cool! and the last one was this lady who had ordered TONS of things before, she ahd a list of about 10 different items she had called and ordered...and each one she didnt want a missionary visit. But i talked to her about the most recent item she ordered, then told her about the book of mormon and asked if she wanted a copy, she said yes and she wanted missionaries, but she slept durring the day so she didnt think they could come, but i told her that they could work around it. it was cool....so i guess my RC experiences were good this week. lol
anyway. Umm...Meu pai wanted me to write something in portuguese this time, but since i dont have much time, i'll just bare my testimony.
Eu sei que esta igreja, a igreja de jesus cristo dos santos dos ultimos dias e' verdadeiro. Eu sei que o Livro de Mormon e' as palavras de deus. Eu sei que todas pessoas que le'em o livro de mormon e oram sobre o livro vai saber-o e' verdadeiro.
em nome de jesus cristo amem

Tchau Everyone! Amo-vos!
-Rhett