Last Week in the CTM

August 13, 2008

Well I leave next tuesday morning, not sure what time but we fly out there on i think a 4 hour flight and when we get there we go to either the mission home or some kind of meeting where we have an orentation kind of thing and we get new comps and meet the president. Im not sure on too many details but i know we have meetings on sunday and monday were they will probley tell us what we are doing. Im not sure when my p-day will be but is fun knowing the next time i write you i will be in maceio. Jared wrote me and told me still no call, his papers have been in for 6 weeks now and says it can take months because people in this wicked world have no respect for the beautiful nation of New Zealand and think of it as the scum of the earth...that is blasphemy! But i hope he gets it and is called to brazil...Thats cool, tell david phelps congrats and what about the other guys in the aspen ward, ryan powel? any others?

Last friday we went proseylting at the metro station again and it rained the whole day but made it fun and exciting and got to test out my umbrella and worked out great. I dont want to brag but that day was the best my comp and i have done out of the three times we´ve gone and placed the 6 boms we had on us and could have given more if we had them on us. Almost all the people we talked to listened to us, understood us and seemed interested and we even once again had a guy come to us asking about the church and the bom and told us he wanted one and that he had meet some missionaries before but didnt have the book, we just meet many people that day(while in the rain)and felt really good about them all. I dont think there was a minute wasted that day not talking to someone, it was awsome.I can say that i can see improvement in the language every week and hear that it improves faster in the field. I think Im ready as I can be, Ive done my best and know its going to be 100times harder out there but the language will come in the Lords time and ill have my new comp there to fix my mistakes. To give you an idea of where im at with the language, the president said that on a scale of 20-100 every elder would get at least 20 through the ctm and some would get 90 and some 50 and some 30. I would say i got probley 35 wich isnt terrible but not even close to the best. There are some in my district that i would say are at 80 because of the spanish classes they took but again I feel Ive done my best and that the Lord will make up the rest.

Thanks for the pictures, I just love to see the kids and the family and I find myself missing the olympics, we tell our instructor to inform us on all the events and medals etc..and cant believe the u.s. is losing to china, but they´ll beat them at track. Umm i dont know if you read the part about needing a card reader so that I can continue sending pictures in the field but that would be nice to have.

Its been awsome going to the temple weekly and will miss it for the next 20 months but ive decided if you and robert cant come to brazil because ive heard that because of visa restrictions etc that parents cant come pick their sons up but if thats the case then i say we go to utah and go through all the temples, that would be a fun trip to do either way.This week is going by fast and the real work is about to start, so I think the next time i write you I will have gone through a week in maceio so it should be interesting. Mom I love you guys and know this gospel is true with all my heart and cant wait to share it with the people the Lord has asked me to and know its going to be some of the best experiences of my life. I love you all and will talk to you again, this time in maceio!