Hey Everyone,

1 more week, I cannot believe this right now!!!!  I'm so pumped/nervous, I just hope that I am ready, I have prepared alot, but I still feel like I'm not ready in some aspects of teaching.  The language is coming along really great, i know all the grammar principles pretty well, now its just a matter of applying these things in my daily speech.  I love speaking Portuguese, its so fun, at some points in speaking, i dont even have to think about what I'm saying, it just comes out.  I don't know if I've already said this but my companion heard me speaking Portuguese in my sleep, AWESOME!!!  Thanksgiving here was so-so..... we just had a devotional by Elder Jeffery R. Holland!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  SERIOUSLY so bomb!!!  The second that he stepped in the room everyone shot up and stood for respect and we were all freaking out, seeing Elder Holland is basically every missionaries dream!  He is so powerful, direct and just makes you want to be a better saint!  2/3 of Elder Holland's family attended and they had their grandchildren do various musical numbers and bear there testimonies, it was really sweet.  Elder Holland and Sister Holland told us that they were our parents for the day and that we were going to have a lot of fun!  Elder Holland's talk was so simple but so powerful.  He based his talk on things that he was grateful for.  One thing that I think most members of the church take for granted every day, and that is having the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives.  This truly is the most important thing that a person could ever had (besides family).  He also expressed his gratitude for the difficult and painful sacrifice that the Prophet Joseph Smith made to give us these wonderful doctrines in our life.  When Elder Holland switched from "we are your parents happy talk" to "Apostle of the Lord" it was absolutely incredible.  Elder Holland a member of the Quorum of the 12 apostles bore sincere testimony that Jesus is our Savior, that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, that the same gospel that was taught in Christ's church has been restored to earth by the Book of Mormon providing the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  As bore witness of these truths you knew he had a knowledge of these things.  Elder Holland is in fact an Apostle of God that has been chosen for our day, I know that he is a man of God.  These are the things I am so incredibly grateful for, I could never pay back Heavenly Father for all that he has given me, but I will sincerely try.  The devotional was truly awesome.  After that we had a Thanksgiving dinner which was ok, but tasted strangely similar to every other Sunday meal we have had (nothing like mom's turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, homemade cranberry sauce and more, man i miss that).  We had a service project that we made hygiene an education kits for kids in Oulessebougou, Mali (in Africa)  It was a great opportunity to serve.  Also we watched, the movie "17 Miracles)  which was awesome.  It just made me realize how much the saints before us sacrificed so that we could have this wonderful gospel in our life and around the world.  I am so grateful for the pioneers that gave so much for us.  Some of them may have been my ancestors, and just to think of the tremendous will and faith they had makes me realize how little I have done.  The constant study and class that we have at the MTC makes me realize how much time I wasted at home.  There are so many parts of the gospel to learn about and improve in our lives.  I regret not sharing this gospel more with my friends, I just want to go out into the world and hand out Book of Mormons and teach everyone.  I have never had this fire that I want to share this gospel so much, it hurts.  Whats it going to hurt if you bring up that your Mormon in conversation, whats it going to hurt if you talk about the Book of Mormon and how there is Another Testament of Jesus Christ that the world doesn't know about.  This is a message that can decide our eternal salvation, lets share it.  Everyone that reads this please try to share the gospel with a friend, family, stranger or in any way possible, give out a Book of Mormon, talk about families, do something, it will be worth it.  I truly love this gospel with all my heart, I'm convinced I'm going to serve like 10 missions with my wife someday!!!  I love you  all and miss you all!

Com Amor,

Elder Rice