September 18th

First "real" week completed! And it was amazing. My area is called Jatobá and the weather here is HOT. It's pretty much like I poured a bucket of water on my head at all times. But it's not horrible. At night it cools down enough that, with a fan, I can sleep really comfortably. The house we're in is small and dirty (the last missionaries who lived in it were filthy) but its home and I enjoy it. Especially when I compare it to the houses of most of the people in my area.

Speaking of the people here, they are amazing. Everyone is so kind and welcoming. The food is much better than the food at the CTM too. I am always looking forward to lunch with the members. But I do feel like a little child a lot of the time. I can't understand what anyone is saying. The people speak very fast and they have a much different accent than the accent in São Paulo. So I spend most of the day staring blankly at whoever is talking just trying to get an idea of what is being said. I can kind of understand my companion though thankfully. I'm pretty sure the people here only say about half of the word then they just trail off. So not understanding what is being said combined with the fact that I have no idea what i'm really doing in general means I just follow my comp around and shake hands when he does. It's a bit depressing when little children try to talk to me and all I can do is smile and nod. But I'm just praying and working hard- one day it'll be able to understand.

My comp is really awesome! We like a lot of the same stuff so he is easy to get along with. He is 23 years old and was a graphic designer before the mish. He can also understand english which is really helpful. He is a great teacher and I have already learned a lot from him. He said he left a lot of stuff behind to go on a mission so it makes me grateful that I will be able to just continue life like normal when I get back in 2. He also makes me cover half of the topics in each lesson so that I am practicing. It's tough and sometimes embarrasing but I know it's helping. One thing that I have noticed is that when I am bearing my testimony, I can actually speak enough to say what I want. Learning portuguese is important but learning the language of the spirit is more important.

Super glad I have this opportunity to be here. This is some really tough work but I am learning and growing every day. And these people need this gospel. I'll try to send pictures next week- talk to you then. Love you guys.

September 8th

Last pday in the CTM! Im really excited and really scared at the same time. We started doing this thing called Breakout this week and it is pretty much just a demonstration of some of the things we are going to be doing out in field such as talking with the bishop or teaching investigators with a member. The instructors are the ones demonstrating it and they talk at their normal speed during it which means that none of the Americans understand anything. Its a good way to remind you that you really dont know any portugese when it comes down to it. The field will be pretty rough for sure. But at least I finally get to do some real missionary work!

This last week has been really awesome just like the other weeks have been. Fast sundays are the best here because you get a lot of freetime. Id like to say that I used the freetime to study the language or scriptures or something productive but i definitely just slept. I think that has been one of the toughest things for me this week. Our brazilian roomates stay up past 11 some nights and its real tough because it really effects my energy. Trying to stay awake has been a real struggle. Especially during the temple session and devotionals. The other struggle was just realizing I wont see some of the people here ever again once I leave. Luckily most of my district either lives in Utah or goes to school there so thats good, but leaving them is still going to be really hard. And I really love my instructors so leaving them is going to be awful. I wont see them again. We had our last lessions with our instructors who are our practice investigators this week to and it was suprisingly sad. Its funny how even though its fake you still get attached to their alternate personalities.

Its funny how straight up some brazilians are. Our zone president tells every exactly what he is thinking. Its pretty funny. He thinks 1 sister in our district is depressed or something because he saw them sleeping during sacrament so he asked her why she was sad. When she told him she wasnt sad he told her to smile more. Im pretty sure hes still convinced she is depressed because he does stuff like talk to the elders in my district about them and in one Elders weekly report he told him he was a good example for the rest of the district- especially the sisters. She really is a happy person so it is just really funny.

Anyways guess the next time I talk will be once I'm out in the field. Not sure when ill be able to email next though. If i don't email for a while just assume I"m dead. Oh wait mom will already do that no need to tell you that. Time to take the next step in the mission. Talk to you later! Eu amo vocês.

September 1st

I'm having more mixed feelings about the CTM now. While I'm still having a ton of fun, I just really want to get out there and teach real people. We have our fake investigators but its definitely not the same. And everyone says the north east is super friendly and receptive to the gospel so I'm just excited. Once I  actually get out there I'll probably be wishing I was back here though. We get to proselyte tomorrow so I'm really pumped for that. It'll also get to see how my Portuguese is doing in the real world. 

There's not much to talk about this week though. The days are starting to all blur together because we do the same thing every week. I've been really trying to set goals. They tell you over and over again to set goals because if you don't then you wont do it. One goal I've had is to focus on one Christ-like attribute per week. This week I worked on charity and love. Its been a huge blessing because I've learned a ton. When you focus on something like that throughout the week, you start to relate all the things you learn about and do to that thing. I've also listened to the wise words of Trina and have been writing down a few things I'm grateful for every day. At first I was really broad but as you keep doing it you are forced to get really specific which is good.

Now for the more crazy/funny stuff that has happened...

The new brazilians came this week and theyve already started teaching the missionaries the term "Rei Delas" which pretty much translates to king of the women or womanizer. I think they find it pretty funny when all the Americans start using that phrase. It is a pretty great phrase not gonna lie. Its also pretty funny to use it around our teacher cause she gets all (fake) mad at us. Another funny experience was when Elder Walters decided to show us how to spin around on a chair. Its probably one of those things you need to be there in person for, but he basically wrapped his legs around the legs of the chair and started rocking around in circles and so him and the chair started spinning around. Just that alone was funny but then the chair leg snapped and he ate it. It was awesome.

I think the whole lock your hearts thing got to us after we listened to a talk about it too. But since we were thinking about it, some of the elders in the district spent a solid 20 minutes just explaining all the different types of hugs you can have. In lots of detail. Im pretty sure at least 10 minutes was spent going over whether the girl should have her arms above or below your arms. Not only am I learning about the languuage and gospel, but im also learning how to hug better. The mish is great. We also got in trouble for singing some TSwift too lound in the showers. The windows in the bathroom open right into the middle of the CTM so everyone could hear us. I think we sounded pretty awesome so Im not sure why they told us not to sing. Pretty sure the other missionaries enjoyed it.

Anyways thats how my week has gone. Love you guys. Seems like its been forever since i last saw everyone but im enjoying everything. only about 2 more weeks and im out of here. Time is so slow and fast at the same time! Talk to you guys next week. 

Elder Odom