September 24, 2008
oí mina familia,This week is my companions birthday so we made the trip to penedo which is his last and only area before me and we are just visiting all the people and elders here and now I’m emailing. Lets see my week....last night we played soccer with the members at the stake center and was alot of fun (they have soccer instead of basketball here at the church’s), saturday I baptised Helena and my companion baptized Jeorge and was just so awesome to see their excitement, and for their age it is pretty incredible (she is 88 and he is 86). I wanted to send a picture but cant at this place so next week I will. Before the baptisms we were getting a key from our bishop at the stake center and while we where standing outside his car a random bullet nearly hit us and was so weird and cant believe how close that was to hitting me. I think that is the closest I have come to death. I’ll send a picture of the bullet next week also. We ate at a Laberdoria for my comps b-day and was really good, I think they have one in Arizona I’m not sure never been but if they have one there that will be cool. Oh I love being out here in brazil and am growing accustomed to their ways of life and now call this place my home. Eu te ama e eu sei esste trabahlo e verdederia, meu português esta melhor e eu sou apprendando mas semente um mes aqui então eu teno mutio tempo apprender português. Well I guess I’m doing decent with the language according to others but I still feel like i know nothing and find it difficult to understand a lot of people and my messages and contacts really stink and think their just being kind to me. hehe k well I’m done blabbing about nonsense.
Oh yeah dogs, we had i think two weeks ago at night just a huge gang of them pass by us and then they turned around and came towards us and my comp just raised his Book of Mormon and they took off, but that was the first time that’s happened to my comp so it isn’t common that they do that. We have been doing really good this week and have already found like 4 really good families to teach and excited for that. Well it’s the last week of my first transfer and think I’ll still be here for another 1-2.
So yeah no package yet and will have a chance to see if it is there when i go to maceio in i think 2 weeks so hopfully it will be there then because if it isnt then that mean another 4-5 weeks before i get mail again.
Man like I said above with helping the people...I’m starting to see what it feels like to be a bishop. The people like to come to the missionaries to resolve their problems and it is just a weird feeling...idk hard to explain. But they are all good people and just hard to understand how they have problems, but don’t we all...anyways the mission is great and when i think about it I would rather be here than going to school and working etc...heheCool Tate´s in Honduras. Awesome for him. i want to hear how it is there and not fair that he got to call home, but yeah 3 months e nada.
I love being out here in brazil and am growing accustomed to their ways of life and now call this place my home. Eu te ama e eu sei esste trabahlo e verdederia, meu português esta melhor e eu sou apprendando mas semente um mes aqui então eu teno mutio tempo apprender português. Well I guess im doing decent with the langauge according to others but I still feel like i know nothing and find it difficult to understand alot of people and my messages and contacts really stink and think their just being kind to me. hehe k well I’m done blabbing about nonsense. So I love you and good luck this week. Sorry about Gavin that’s gotta be really hard and I have been praying for them every night, but is true that he is in the best place he can be in. I will continue to pray for his parents.
Well love you guys and will send pics next week.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Stake Activity
September 17, 2008
I feel so bad because I didn’t send Brian’s letter until this morning. However, of all days our internet went out so I couldn’t send it until 10:00am. I was hoping that I could send it before he sent his. Of course, wouldn’t you know it, he sent his earlier than he ever has, around 8:30am. At least he will know next week that I really did write. Oh well. So here’s Brian’s email:
Well how are things going at home? Hope all is well, things are going good here. Its always hard to remember all that happens in a week but thats how it goes. We got no one to church this week and can see how satan is really working hard to get our investigators not to come, i mean we spend all week with these people and they all tell us they are going to go and we visit them the night before and go to pick them up in the morning and then thats when all the excuses come and then their just plain lazy and sooo much contention between the people....when we returned to these investigators we were working with to get them and go to church we found them fighting and arguing with each other about i dont know what but was insane and we just left them there...these people are just crazy and need the gospel in their lives. So all of the people we visited sunday morning to go to church didnt go, but we did have George e Helena this elderly couple we have been working with go. They went with a member in our ward and we are going to baptize them this saturday and just really cool to see them excited for it and especially for their age. Its really funny to see that they still have a great sense of humor, they are in their mid 80´s and and is the guy that bore testimony last week if you remember. We met some other people that seem like they will prepare but not sure yet untill we work with them today so i will tell how that goes next week. Yesterday we had an all day stake activity where they rented out this place that has a big soccer field and swimming pool and patio with music and they had a huge barbeque with tons of food and soda etc...was alot of fun and my first time playing soccer with brazilians...man they are crazy and take the game too serious but was fun and i scored the first goal of the day and didnt realize the activity was really going to be all day, it went from 8am to 7pm, when they play soccer they really play and they play forever...and all the guys play, the bishops and everyone, idk how to explain the way they play but it was fun overall and now i am tired from all the playing we did. So yesterday was our p-day and today we are just emailing and getting back to work after lunch. Tomorrow the mission president and his wife are coming to our stake for a zone meeting and i feel like i wont be seeing a package yet but did you send it? Depending on how long it takes i might not get it for another month when we have another zone conference but w/e. because of yesterday´s activity i wasnt able to put my pics on a cd yet but im going to try my best to get that done and send a package home and another to my friends...man i hate our budget because i dont think they put bus fees and taxi fees into our budget and those things really rack up the sum of our money, we do get reimbursed for things that have a recite (receipt) for cleaning supplies and bus tickets but we have to send that to macieo through the mail and then takes his secretaries forever to reimburse us and by that time we are already broke, which is why i have been using my own money because when i first got here my comp was broke and we needed stuff badly for our home which was a big mess and then tickets to get to conference and district meeting, food etc...and then my comps b-day is coming up so i bought a jersey to give him and a jersey for me, and then there is candy that i really like that i bought so i mean i have been using some of my own money for this kind of stuff. so we have about 160Reais worth of recites that we are sending in sometime this week and more because we constantly use the taxis almost everyday. So its fun not having money and am still trying to figure out how to make my budget work so im learning and in the meantime have spent some of my own money on extra things...well i love you all and hope to hear from you next week and pray things go good. Brian
It sounds like Brian is going to learn how to Budget, huh? They learn so many great things on their mission, that they wouldn't learn otherwise. They really can live within their budget if they have to. I am sure he will figure it out soon.
I feel so bad because I didn’t send Brian’s letter until this morning. However, of all days our internet went out so I couldn’t send it until 10:00am. I was hoping that I could send it before he sent his. Of course, wouldn’t you know it, he sent his earlier than he ever has, around 8:30am. At least he will know next week that I really did write. Oh well. So here’s Brian’s email:
Well how are things going at home? Hope all is well, things are going good here. Its always hard to remember all that happens in a week but thats how it goes. We got no one to church this week and can see how satan is really working hard to get our investigators not to come, i mean we spend all week with these people and they all tell us they are going to go and we visit them the night before and go to pick them up in the morning and then thats when all the excuses come and then their just plain lazy and sooo much contention between the people....when we returned to these investigators we were working with to get them and go to church we found them fighting and arguing with each other about i dont know what but was insane and we just left them there...these people are just crazy and need the gospel in their lives. So all of the people we visited sunday morning to go to church didnt go, but we did have George e Helena this elderly couple we have been working with go. They went with a member in our ward and we are going to baptize them this saturday and just really cool to see them excited for it and especially for their age. Its really funny to see that they still have a great sense of humor, they are in their mid 80´s and and is the guy that bore testimony last week if you remember. We met some other people that seem like they will prepare but not sure yet untill we work with them today so i will tell how that goes next week. Yesterday we had an all day stake activity where they rented out this place that has a big soccer field and swimming pool and patio with music and they had a huge barbeque with tons of food and soda etc...was alot of fun and my first time playing soccer with brazilians...man they are crazy and take the game too serious but was fun and i scored the first goal of the day and didnt realize the activity was really going to be all day, it went from 8am to 7pm, when they play soccer they really play and they play forever...and all the guys play, the bishops and everyone, idk how to explain the way they play but it was fun overall and now i am tired from all the playing we did. So yesterday was our p-day and today we are just emailing and getting back to work after lunch. Tomorrow the mission president and his wife are coming to our stake for a zone meeting and i feel like i wont be seeing a package yet but did you send it? Depending on how long it takes i might not get it for another month when we have another zone conference but w/e. because of yesterday´s activity i wasnt able to put my pics on a cd yet but im going to try my best to get that done and send a package home and another to my friends...man i hate our budget because i dont think they put bus fees and taxi fees into our budget and those things really rack up the sum of our money, we do get reimbursed for things that have a recite (receipt) for cleaning supplies and bus tickets but we have to send that to macieo through the mail and then takes his secretaries forever to reimburse us and by that time we are already broke, which is why i have been using my own money because when i first got here my comp was broke and we needed stuff badly for our home which was a big mess and then tickets to get to conference and district meeting, food etc...and then my comps b-day is coming up so i bought a jersey to give him and a jersey for me, and then there is candy that i really like that i bought so i mean i have been using some of my own money for this kind of stuff. so we have about 160Reais worth of recites that we are sending in sometime this week and more because we constantly use the taxis almost everyday. So its fun not having money and am still trying to figure out how to make my budget work so im learning and in the meantime have spent some of my own money on extra things...well i love you all and hope to hear from you next week and pray things go good. Brian
It sounds like Brian is going to learn how to Budget, huh? They learn so many great things on their mission, that they wouldn't learn otherwise. They really can live within their budget if they have to. I am sure he will figure it out soon.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
September 10, 2008
My first baptism-Kayse
My companion, Elder Guerra, Kayse, Brian and some unknown littl guy. Brian didn't tell us who he is.
September 10, 2008
Well I like to get the questions out of the way first so...3 investigators came last week, the ward is decent size and has a lot of great people (we do get fed every day for lunch by them), Kayse is awesome. I baptised him last saturday night and was awsome to see his excitment to be baptized. Not to sure on the status of mislayne, but like i said she seems prepared and not sure if my comp taught her the word of wisdom last night because we were on splits but I’m sure if he did she was ready for it (i hope so because she does drink alot). We didn’t teach english last week but we are tonight i guess. Jared leaves in november and goes to the mtc in Hamilton, New Zealand. So more about the people, A lot walk, a lot drive their little cars, you see people using their horses, taxis, bikes, motortaxis, buses. I´ve used all except the horse...the weather is well sometimes bearable and most of the time just wet and humid and muggy feeling most of the time. You sweat a lot and just i dont know if they have seasons here, but not summer for a few months...nice when it rains but then after its worse so idk (I don’t know)...when i sleep at night it a lot of times feels wet and damp but I’ve gotten used to it and nothing i can do about it. Don’t carry water with me, just my backpack, if I’m that thirsty I’ll ask someone for water and hope it is good water. There are dogs everywhere, and cats, lizards, bugs, etc...we have only found one angry dog so far that wanted to chase us but was chained...there are some streets were its dark and we have to be carefull and only speak Portuguese because they will rob you they think you have money and stuff (first week here another two elders in my district had their house broken into and his camera was stolen and so we spent a morning helping them move to a different home and he has been robbed at night to where they take his watch and 5 reais (money), Yeah the streets are pretty dirty and more in other places but yeah you will see water draining from all the homes into the streets and people dont care to through away trash so you will see a lot in some areas, depending on the area most people here have concrete or tile floors and if it is a poor area they have dirt floors. A lot of the homes I’ve seen can be pretty bad in terms of mold and just stink and filthyness. well I think that was all the questions...Very long week...did a lot of stuff...we hade a big service project with the stake were we spent all day at a school painting, and cleaning, and doing just about everything to make it look like a school, was fun and i got a little burned on my neck but feels better now. Church we had i think 4 investigators attend and one of them is an elderly couple and the husband went up and bore his testimony and said a lot of good things about the church and yeah we have baptism dates for them and my comp told me last night that during our splits yesterday they scheduled another one, not sure who but i will find out tonight. Tuesday night we went on splits with our district leaders, so I spent that night and all day yesterday with my dl in his area and was alot of fun. Today we went and did service for a member cleaning up her yard and weren’t happy that our dls made that appointment on our p-day but we got it done, so yeah fun week. i think 3 more baptisms to come and hope to find more this week!Thats really cool about the new callings and sorry you guys are sick. Lucky me i haven’t been sick once yet and have had no problems. I was going to send pictures of the baptism but forgot my card reader so i will do that next week and not sure if I’ll get to sending the cds of all my pictures today but will try my best. The other guys want to go play football, I’ll see what my comp wants to do and I’m hungry right now so I’m going to go eat. The food is awsome, great bread, pastels, fruit, when we are poor we buy this thing called cuz cuz and is not that bad its like only 25cents and can feed two people. Umm cant think of much else but how is the ward doing? i think parker is due to leave and where is ryan powell going? How are the deacons? Its amazing how much of the langauge i have learned in the first three weeks and just never imagined myself here in brazil doing missionary work....Im having alot of fun and just love my district and the mission. Well I love you all and if you can let me know the status of the package, i miss listening to my mo tab because my comp has his mp3 thingy but not much music so we listen to the same stuff every day!!! Gets boring....anyways thanks for all the prayers and love
Brian
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Getting Ready for His First Baptism
September 3, 2008
So, its Olá in portugues but that is formal, most brazilians use tudo bem/bom, and here in this state at least all the people greet with just any wierd loud noise, it is so funny and took me a few days to get used to and be able to do it. It sounds kinda like this oooopa! or uuuoopa! And to they also use Beleza or tranquill (what up or chill)or hapaz ( used for just about anything and can mean anything but translation i think is of course or something like that). Well lots of differnt greetings and kinda just depends on the situation of the greeting. I use all of them all the time. (I asked if Hola, was what they say in Portuguese.)Sunday could have been better, we only had 3 come to church and still are going to do our baptism this week with kaysee, he is 14 years old an awesome kid and really prepared for it. Another person really prepared is mislayne, we werent too sure how we were going to teach her but like i said she is prepared and without bringing it up she said she wanted to be baptized but didnt think she could because she isnt married and she told us she was going to explain all of that to her boyfriend when he returns from Sao Paulo and if he doesn’t want to get married she will leave him and get baptised! we were so amazed at how well prepared she is and to make it better last night we visited her and as we were leaving she asked if she could pay tithing without us even teaching her anything about it so we smiled and explained a little about it and will teach her more tomorrow. So overall we had an awsome 1st week but this last week all of our numbers have been cut in half and has been a bit frustrating, the people have been hard towards us lately and so we are trying new things and we have felt the need to work with the members so tonight we are teaching english to members and investigators and every other week on Saturday nights we are showing the Joseph Smith film. My companion, Elder Guerra, Awesome guy, he has been out for 6 months now, im his third comp and he has had only americans so he has improved his english alot and is really good guy and is from sau paulo.We wake up at 6:30 and in bed by 10:30. The bus trip from Maceio to Arapiraca is 3 hours and not an overnight trip sorry for the confusion, the overnight bus trip is to a different area in the mission. Well lucky me we have a washer but helps to have water to wash my cloths in :)The first week here we had zero running water for three days, the owner said it just goes off sometimes and happend to another elder in our zone as well but it came back on and we were so happy to have it! But there are two different water sources and the one that is for the washer is almost never working so when it does work we use it. My shoes are fine but are impossible to keep clean so i just try to clean them before leaving the home but they always get muddy after an hour of being out there. I’m starting to know my area better and the city and can see my improvements as each week goes by.So about our pdays, there are three games a person will learn to play if you come to brazil, 1 Truco, 2 Uno, 3 War, we have played all three every pday thus far and is really fun. I get to eat this really big hamburger they call the X-Tudo wich has egg, ham/cheese,bacon,hamburger,hotdog,lettuce etc...and for a drink a fruit of my choice and they make it fresh and give you like a liters worth and all of this for i think like 3 american dollars. The best!Well Emily and Heidi, i forgot to give you that list of cds i wanted. In itunes i have some music to burn, it is to listen on my pday: Transformers soundtrack, bourne idenity st, lord of the rings st. (should be in itunes) Obligado and also if you could buy me some christmas music, i know my brother jason told me to take christmas music with me but i didnt know why? but i love listening to it (dont ask me why but i just love it)so any really cool musical christmas music you think i would like please get as well. Thank you soo much. Remember the music is for my pday and will not distract me from the work and is legal to listen to down here. Well still have time to write more so...yesterday for lunch we had to take a bus to another city because that is were the member lives and i guess the church is not established out there so yeah it was about a 3 hour lunch appointment and i think we spent more getting there and back home than was spent on the meal itself, but was fun and one thing we have started doing is taking all our photos and the people just love to see the kids and think they are just adorable. Don’t really want to send photos this week, the internet here is really slow and takes forever to upload a pic and to see a picture so i will have one next week and am almost done with my first chip so when i finish that one up i will put it on a cd and send it home. Another funny story is we meet this guy that said he would go to the church and that he thinks it cool but that he couldnt go because he has to work and we asked him who he works for and it turns out he works for our bishop selling pirated movies. Kinda sad when you think about it but in brazil no surprise i guess and they have really no rating system for movies so i mean you’ll see kids watching groosome movies. Alot happens in a week and cant explain alot of it but the work goes on and looking forward to another week of it.Well I love you all, please burn those cds for me, I will be sending pics next week, and Até mais from brazil or thau Eu amo vocês!
So, its Olá in portugues but that is formal, most brazilians use tudo bem/bom, and here in this state at least all the people greet with just any wierd loud noise, it is so funny and took me a few days to get used to and be able to do it. It sounds kinda like this oooopa! or uuuoopa! And to they also use Beleza or tranquill (what up or chill)or hapaz ( used for just about anything and can mean anything but translation i think is of course or something like that). Well lots of differnt greetings and kinda just depends on the situation of the greeting. I use all of them all the time. (I asked if Hola, was what they say in Portuguese.)Sunday could have been better, we only had 3 come to church and still are going to do our baptism this week with kaysee, he is 14 years old an awesome kid and really prepared for it. Another person really prepared is mislayne, we werent too sure how we were going to teach her but like i said she is prepared and without bringing it up she said she wanted to be baptized but didnt think she could because she isnt married and she told us she was going to explain all of that to her boyfriend when he returns from Sao Paulo and if he doesn’t want to get married she will leave him and get baptised! we were so amazed at how well prepared she is and to make it better last night we visited her and as we were leaving she asked if she could pay tithing without us even teaching her anything about it so we smiled and explained a little about it and will teach her more tomorrow. So overall we had an awsome 1st week but this last week all of our numbers have been cut in half and has been a bit frustrating, the people have been hard towards us lately and so we are trying new things and we have felt the need to work with the members so tonight we are teaching english to members and investigators and every other week on Saturday nights we are showing the Joseph Smith film. My companion, Elder Guerra, Awesome guy, he has been out for 6 months now, im his third comp and he has had only americans so he has improved his english alot and is really good guy and is from sau paulo.We wake up at 6:30 and in bed by 10:30. The bus trip from Maceio to Arapiraca is 3 hours and not an overnight trip sorry for the confusion, the overnight bus trip is to a different area in the mission. Well lucky me we have a washer but helps to have water to wash my cloths in :)The first week here we had zero running water for three days, the owner said it just goes off sometimes and happend to another elder in our zone as well but it came back on and we were so happy to have it! But there are two different water sources and the one that is for the washer is almost never working so when it does work we use it. My shoes are fine but are impossible to keep clean so i just try to clean them before leaving the home but they always get muddy after an hour of being out there. I’m starting to know my area better and the city and can see my improvements as each week goes by.So about our pdays, there are three games a person will learn to play if you come to brazil, 1 Truco, 2 Uno, 3 War, we have played all three every pday thus far and is really fun. I get to eat this really big hamburger they call the X-Tudo wich has egg, ham/cheese,bacon,hamburger,hotdog,lettuce etc...and for a drink a fruit of my choice and they make it fresh and give you like a liters worth and all of this for i think like 3 american dollars. The best!Well Emily and Heidi, i forgot to give you that list of cds i wanted. In itunes i have some music to burn, it is to listen on my pday: Transformers soundtrack, bourne idenity st, lord of the rings st. (should be in itunes) Obligado and also if you could buy me some christmas music, i know my brother jason told me to take christmas music with me but i didnt know why? but i love listening to it (dont ask me why but i just love it)so any really cool musical christmas music you think i would like please get as well. Thank you soo much. Remember the music is for my pday and will not distract me from the work and is legal to listen to down here. Well still have time to write more so...yesterday for lunch we had to take a bus to another city because that is were the member lives and i guess the church is not established out there so yeah it was about a 3 hour lunch appointment and i think we spent more getting there and back home than was spent on the meal itself, but was fun and one thing we have started doing is taking all our photos and the people just love to see the kids and think they are just adorable. Don’t really want to send photos this week, the internet here is really slow and takes forever to upload a pic and to see a picture so i will have one next week and am almost done with my first chip so when i finish that one up i will put it on a cd and send it home. Another funny story is we meet this guy that said he would go to the church and that he thinks it cool but that he couldnt go because he has to work and we asked him who he works for and it turns out he works for our bishop selling pirated movies. Kinda sad when you think about it but in brazil no surprise i guess and they have really no rating system for movies so i mean you’ll see kids watching groosome movies. Alot happens in a week and cant explain alot of it but the work goes on and looking forward to another week of it.Well I love you all, please burn those cds for me, I will be sending pics next week, and Até mais from brazil or thau Eu amo vocês!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
1st week in the field
August 28, 2008
Well 1 week down a lot more to go...
So much happens in a week that I don’t know what to say.
First, yesterday i didn't have p-day because it was our zone conference with the mp and that happens every 4-6 weeks and when that happens we take the 3hr bus trip to Maceio and spend all day there and then 3hrs back home and then have our p day the next day which is today.
About the games, we can play games on pday and is something our district does every p day. and i wanted to give emily a list of cds to burn for me if thats ok...
I also got the package with the sd card reader on it so i will post some pics here and thankyou soooo much for the goodies, the gummie bears didnt last long and was nice to read all the letters on that 3hr bus trip, I only get my mail every 6 weeks when I go to zone conference unless I get transfered to maceio but i dont think that will happen for a while.
So about this week, We have talked to so many people, knocked or clapped on many doors, invited all to church, etc...we got 6 people to go to church out of the like 50 that said they would go, and out of those 6 one boy that is 16 asked us when he can be baptized so we were excited for that (doesnt happen everyday) so we will baptize him next saturday and two of his other friends want to go to church this sunday and i have a good feeling about them as well. It takes 3 weeks to baptize someone because they have to go to church at least 3 times. another that came is a girl I think 17 or 18 and she said she would prepare for baptism after we taught her the first lesson but I’m not too sure if she will truly commit, then we have the mother and her i think 3 kids come one 8 the other two infants but when we taught her she said she would be baptised or prepare for it and we felt really good about her but then we found out she is not married to her husband and that he is currently in sao paulo and wont return for a few weeks...yeah she might take a while to baptize but I’ve heard weddings here are fun and make you broke but well see were that one goes over time. So thats our success for the week thus far. So much more has happened but i cant think of how to explain it.
Believe it or not but I’m still gaining weight, I just dont get it, i exercise every morning and for being in the poorest state in brazil and in one of the poorest cities of my mission and all the walking...but I must say that the food here is awsome! We eat lunch with members every day and sundays we have both lunch and dinner, alot of part member families and awsome people. They make amazing meals all the same tho, consist of rice beans spagetti carne and for drinks its cola or gaurana or succo. oh yeah and somthing i like they serve us is coffee... before you freek out its called ceveda and i dont know why but its a drink members are allowed to drink and tastes just like coffee but i dont think it has any caffeen in it and is i guess healthy i dont know but that i get to drink it and it is not that bad.
So for breakfast me and my comp usually have just had cookies but depending if we have the stuff we make ham and cheese and the bread here in brazil is just awsome. Lunch is always good and by the way i think i gained 2 kilos in this first week! Dinner well we skip alot and just work instead and somtimes use that time in the afternoon to take a siesta when most people are napping but not always somtime we will have appointments.
Jared got his call, hes going to melbourn austrailia!
The language justs gets better even though i still cant speak it well i understand more than i can speak...but all the missionaries just told me it takes that first 2 months to be able to understand it all and then another 2 to be able to speak it. The people here speak the language all mumbled and as fast as they can and dont pronounce all their words correctly, its tuff to fully understand them and they always want to hear the american speak, i hate it sometimes.
Speaking of people we are teaching alot of what we call snakes in the mission and they always want to know if I have a girfriend and I just tell them I do so that they dont get any ideas. So, Heidi and Emily I need a girfriend for the next 22 months, so if you can help me out by setting me up with one of your friends or finding me someone, she needs to be able to keep commitments(22months), preferably lds, cute, sense of humor, I need a picture to and thanks for the help!
I know I said I wouldnt have a girfriend untill after the mission but its necessary for in brazil.
More about the city, people still use horses as a form of transportation, we somtimes use the motorcycle taxis which is alot of fun, alot of dirty places but like i said alot of good people and all are polite. I think its still winter here and it somtimes just feels like summer but ill have to wait and see what summer has in store for me.
I heard the D-backs are doing good and that brandon web set another record if you wanna keep me posted on that. I think its the last month of the season and then playoffs!
So, Im really enjoying the food well except the dessert, if anyone ever comes to brazil you will know what i mean, the desserts here are garbage and so decieving but they have good candy! Ill keep you posted on our baptisms and will take pictures when they happen, its been slow here because were all new to the area and have just barley touched the surface and like i said the rule is the people have to have gone to church 3 times to be ready for it. Well ask me any questions and Ill be happy to answer, thanks for the photos, the girls are all cute and looked like a fun sleep over.
Love Elder Roberts
Well 1 week down a lot more to go...
So much happens in a week that I don’t know what to say.
First, yesterday i didn't have p-day because it was our zone conference with the mp and that happens every 4-6 weeks and when that happens we take the 3hr bus trip to Maceio and spend all day there and then 3hrs back home and then have our p day the next day which is today.
About the games, we can play games on pday and is something our district does every p day. and i wanted to give emily a list of cds to burn for me if thats ok...
I also got the package with the sd card reader on it so i will post some pics here and thankyou soooo much for the goodies, the gummie bears didnt last long and was nice to read all the letters on that 3hr bus trip, I only get my mail every 6 weeks when I go to zone conference unless I get transfered to maceio but i dont think that will happen for a while.
So about this week, We have talked to so many people, knocked or clapped on many doors, invited all to church, etc...we got 6 people to go to church out of the like 50 that said they would go, and out of those 6 one boy that is 16 asked us when he can be baptized so we were excited for that (doesnt happen everyday) so we will baptize him next saturday and two of his other friends want to go to church this sunday and i have a good feeling about them as well. It takes 3 weeks to baptize someone because they have to go to church at least 3 times. another that came is a girl I think 17 or 18 and she said she would prepare for baptism after we taught her the first lesson but I’m not too sure if she will truly commit, then we have the mother and her i think 3 kids come one 8 the other two infants but when we taught her she said she would be baptised or prepare for it and we felt really good about her but then we found out she is not married to her husband and that he is currently in sao paulo and wont return for a few weeks...yeah she might take a while to baptize but I’ve heard weddings here are fun and make you broke but well see were that one goes over time. So thats our success for the week thus far. So much more has happened but i cant think of how to explain it.
Believe it or not but I’m still gaining weight, I just dont get it, i exercise every morning and for being in the poorest state in brazil and in one of the poorest cities of my mission and all the walking...but I must say that the food here is awsome! We eat lunch with members every day and sundays we have both lunch and dinner, alot of part member families and awsome people. They make amazing meals all the same tho, consist of rice beans spagetti carne and for drinks its cola or gaurana or succo. oh yeah and somthing i like they serve us is coffee... before you freek out its called ceveda and i dont know why but its a drink members are allowed to drink and tastes just like coffee but i dont think it has any caffeen in it and is i guess healthy i dont know but that i get to drink it and it is not that bad.
So for breakfast me and my comp usually have just had cookies but depending if we have the stuff we make ham and cheese and the bread here in brazil is just awsome. Lunch is always good and by the way i think i gained 2 kilos in this first week! Dinner well we skip alot and just work instead and somtimes use that time in the afternoon to take a siesta when most people are napping but not always somtime we will have appointments.
Jared got his call, hes going to melbourn austrailia!
The language justs gets better even though i still cant speak it well i understand more than i can speak...but all the missionaries just told me it takes that first 2 months to be able to understand it all and then another 2 to be able to speak it. The people here speak the language all mumbled and as fast as they can and dont pronounce all their words correctly, its tuff to fully understand them and they always want to hear the american speak, i hate it sometimes.
Speaking of people we are teaching alot of what we call snakes in the mission and they always want to know if I have a girfriend and I just tell them I do so that they dont get any ideas. So, Heidi and Emily I need a girfriend for the next 22 months, so if you can help me out by setting me up with one of your friends or finding me someone, she needs to be able to keep commitments(22months), preferably lds, cute, sense of humor, I need a picture to and thanks for the help!
I know I said I wouldnt have a girfriend untill after the mission but its necessary for in brazil.
More about the city, people still use horses as a form of transportation, we somtimes use the motorcycle taxis which is alot of fun, alot of dirty places but like i said alot of good people and all are polite. I think its still winter here and it somtimes just feels like summer but ill have to wait and see what summer has in store for me.
I heard the D-backs are doing good and that brandon web set another record if you wanna keep me posted on that. I think its the last month of the season and then playoffs!
So, Im really enjoying the food well except the dessert, if anyone ever comes to brazil you will know what i mean, the desserts here are garbage and so decieving but they have good candy! Ill keep you posted on our baptisms and will take pictures when they happen, its been slow here because were all new to the area and have just barley touched the surface and like i said the rule is the people have to have gone to church 3 times to be ready for it. Well ask me any questions and Ill be happy to answer, thanks for the photos, the girls are all cute and looked like a fun sleep over.
Love Elder Roberts
Pictures of 1st Area & Companion
This is my washing machine & scrub sink
My bed is the blue one
My bed is the blue one
My companion Elder Guerra
Thursday, August 21, 2008
President and Sister Beynon
President and Sister BeynonThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
BRAZIL MACEIÓ MISSION OFFICE
Av. Dom Antônio Brandão, 333, Sl: 402, Bairro Farol, Maceió - AL 57021-190
Maceió, August 21, 2008
Dear Loved Ones of Elder Roberts,
Greetings from the Brazil Maceió Mission. Your son recently arrived in the mission and we wanted to send you a picture taken on his first day. Thank you for the gift of your son for this two year period. The first weeks in the mission field are challenging, but he is excited to face them. We are so grateful for your role in his preparation. We are confident that he will perform a great and marvelous work among this openhearted people in the states of Alagoas and Sergipe, which make up our mission.
We kindly request that you write to your son regularly. He should soon be sending to you his apartment or house address. All missionaries should write to their parents once per week. This is a mission rule. Each missionary will be allowed to call home two times per year on Christmas and Mother’s Day.
BRAZIL MACEIÓ MISSION OFFICE
Av. Dom Antônio Brandão, 333, Sl: 402, Bairro Farol, Maceió - AL 57021-190
Maceió, August 21, 2008
Dear Loved Ones of Elder Roberts,
Greetings from the Brazil Maceió Mission. Your son recently arrived in the mission and we wanted to send you a picture taken on his first day. Thank you for the gift of your son for this two year period. The first weeks in the mission field are challenging, but he is excited to face them. We are so grateful for your role in his preparation. We are confident that he will perform a great and marvelous work among this openhearted people in the states of Alagoas and Sergipe, which make up our mission.
We kindly request that you write to your son regularly. He should soon be sending to you his apartment or house address. All missionaries should write to their parents once per week. This is a mission rule. Each missionary will be allowed to call home two times per year on Christmas and Mother’s Day.
MISSÃO BRASIL MACEIÓ
Rua Dom Antonio Brandão, 333 sala 402
Ed. Work Center – Farol
Maceió, AL
Rua Dom Antonio Brandão, 333 sala 402
Ed. Work Center – Farol
Maceió, AL
57021-190
Thank you for supporting your son in this sacred work. Many children of Heavenly Father will become members of the Church of Jesus Christ through his hard work and sacrifice. We know that both he and you will be blessed for this service. We will do our utmost to help your son achieve his dreams and to further the building of the kingdom of God in this part of His vineyard.
Sincerely,
President Gary Beynon
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
First week in the Field
August 20, 2008
K well i made it to maceio at around 2pm along with 5 other elders 4 americans 2 brazis. The mission pres and wife and other elders were there to pick us up and we all went to the mission home. We ate an awesome home made meal that made me realize that the ctm food was não bom and then was got to meet each other while we each met with the president. You probley got our picture by now and not sure if he told you where i am right now. After all that was done he told us our new companions and the first four all had their new comps there at the home waiting for them and then he looked at me and my comp (his comp from the CTM) and kinda laughed and said onibus which meant long trip to your new comp.So my old comp got the exciting 2 day bus trip and i got the one night bus trip. He went to estencia in the state of sergipe and I was sent to arapirca!So I was in maceio for no longer than 5 hours and now am currently in arapiraca. So far, since the plane landed it rains every 10 minutes and this city im in is mostly dirt roads except where the shops are. I met my comp elder guerra after waiting at the bus stop for a bit and two other elders were with him. It was his first day there too and so were both new to the area and really havent unpacked anything at all, in fact ive only been in our home for no longer than 20 min...last night we dropped my stuff off ate the dinner they gave me and then asked if i wanted to sleep or play war(risk board game). i was kinda tired but i havent played games forever so i was all for it. so we got a taxi to the other two elders home and we played war until about 1am and then went to bed. we did the same thing this morning for our pday and just messed around at their home. Oh yeah the other two are brazilian as well and my distric consists of 9 people 3 americans, i havent met any of them except for these two. The church is a street down from my home and can see it from our stairs. I havent taken any pictures yet but will have some for you next week hopefully. i have alot on my mind and things i have to do so might be a while before i figure out how to send a package to you with a cd of all my pics and videos. ohh and if you havent sent me the package yet could you add 2 decks of uno cards please...the brazis love that game and is practically a rule to play it every night. So tonight at 6 will be my first real work except the fact that me and my comp are both new to the area and have no appointments and know nobody and so i think we are just going to figure out our area before we do much, but I’ll let you know how the first week goes. my pdays are the same every wednesday. Yea craig i will be doing my own laundry, i think i saw what was a automatic washer not sure but they also have buckets for that too and we hang dry our closes, we have a small stove, refrigerator, the home is pretty small. Only one light was working i think the others just need new bulbs. K so thats whats going down so far; morning I’m in the ctm and that same night I’m in a foreign land but the air is clean and is so much nicer than in a big polluted city like sao paulo. I love it here and am doing my best to learn from the other elders. To answer the other questions im not sure about how long elder guerra has been out but long enough to train someone. He is i think the same size as me. Most brazilians are small tho, he understands quite a bit of English, but never uses it unless i have trouble saying something. The weather is beautiful, it is a lot more humid but has been nice so far and cant wait till the summer hits. Im sure after a few months I’ll have the language down. So i just need to take my mission pres advice and just survive. He is an awesome guy and i love his wife, all she wants to do is take care of us and feels like another mother for me. So here i am 3 hours from maceio and will tell you when my next baptism is! Hah at the mission home they had me demonstrate a street contact but one where i invite to church and baptism in the first contact which is not what they teach in the ctm, but the people here are really acceptive to it i guess and missionaries have been having great success so I’ll see how it goes.Well i love you all and tell granny hi and i wish here well Elder Roberts
K well i made it to maceio at around 2pm along with 5 other elders 4 americans 2 brazis. The mission pres and wife and other elders were there to pick us up and we all went to the mission home. We ate an awesome home made meal that made me realize that the ctm food was não bom and then was got to meet each other while we each met with the president. You probley got our picture by now and not sure if he told you where i am right now. After all that was done he told us our new companions and the first four all had their new comps there at the home waiting for them and then he looked at me and my comp (his comp from the CTM) and kinda laughed and said onibus which meant long trip to your new comp.So my old comp got the exciting 2 day bus trip and i got the one night bus trip. He went to estencia in the state of sergipe and I was sent to arapirca!So I was in maceio for no longer than 5 hours and now am currently in arapiraca. So far, since the plane landed it rains every 10 minutes and this city im in is mostly dirt roads except where the shops are. I met my comp elder guerra after waiting at the bus stop for a bit and two other elders were with him. It was his first day there too and so were both new to the area and really havent unpacked anything at all, in fact ive only been in our home for no longer than 20 min...last night we dropped my stuff off ate the dinner they gave me and then asked if i wanted to sleep or play war(risk board game). i was kinda tired but i havent played games forever so i was all for it. so we got a taxi to the other two elders home and we played war until about 1am and then went to bed. we did the same thing this morning for our pday and just messed around at their home. Oh yeah the other two are brazilian as well and my distric consists of 9 people 3 americans, i havent met any of them except for these two. The church is a street down from my home and can see it from our stairs. I havent taken any pictures yet but will have some for you next week hopefully. i have alot on my mind and things i have to do so might be a while before i figure out how to send a package to you with a cd of all my pics and videos. ohh and if you havent sent me the package yet could you add 2 decks of uno cards please...the brazis love that game and is practically a rule to play it every night. So tonight at 6 will be my first real work except the fact that me and my comp are both new to the area and have no appointments and know nobody and so i think we are just going to figure out our area before we do much, but I’ll let you know how the first week goes. my pdays are the same every wednesday. Yea craig i will be doing my own laundry, i think i saw what was a automatic washer not sure but they also have buckets for that too and we hang dry our closes, we have a small stove, refrigerator, the home is pretty small. Only one light was working i think the others just need new bulbs. K so thats whats going down so far; morning I’m in the ctm and that same night I’m in a foreign land but the air is clean and is so much nicer than in a big polluted city like sao paulo. I love it here and am doing my best to learn from the other elders. To answer the other questions im not sure about how long elder guerra has been out but long enough to train someone. He is i think the same size as me. Most brazilians are small tho, he understands quite a bit of English, but never uses it unless i have trouble saying something. The weather is beautiful, it is a lot more humid but has been nice so far and cant wait till the summer hits. Im sure after a few months I’ll have the language down. So i just need to take my mission pres advice and just survive. He is an awesome guy and i love his wife, all she wants to do is take care of us and feels like another mother for me. So here i am 3 hours from maceio and will tell you when my next baptism is! Hah at the mission home they had me demonstrate a street contact but one where i invite to church and baptism in the first contact which is not what they teach in the ctm, but the people here are really acceptive to it i guess and missionaries have been having great success so I’ll see how it goes.Well i love you all and tell granny hi and i wish here well Elder Roberts
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
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!
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!
Less than 2 weeks in the CTM
Brian standing in front of the Campinas Temple
Tyler Orme, Tate's friend from Hawaii, with Brian at the CTM
The Brazi's left the CTM and this is the rest of Brian's floor without them. Brian looks like he is having a lot of fun. If you can't find him, look for the blue shirt. August 6, 2008Well it’s almost that time and I’m not sure what to expect but I’m sure Ill let you know how it goes when the time comes. Today just my district went to the Campinas Temple and I was able to get the instructor to take a picture of me on my mem card on her camera. Yesterday we got rid of half the brazi´s on our floor and the other pic is of half the people on my side of our floor and the last pic is of me and Tyler Orme. I’ll send it to Tate as well. Umm I’m going to give Jared my address so that we can both keep in contact during our missions just like I will with the other missionaries in my district. Yes my cd player broke, I don’t know how or why but it just doesn’t work at all, and if you send me one please add a card reader so that i can send pics throughout my mission and maybe another mem card por favor.I just love Tate’s picture with the kids, its the complete opposite of mine :)I would write really long letters but I’m a boring person and there isn’t much to do in the ctm, though your right about missionaries doing stupid stuff and we do do a lot of stuff but Ill save that for another year or two. I took pictures and videos of all the dumb things we did. I´ll share one story tho...we spent the whole day one day convincing one of the elders in my district that another elder in my district was really mad and depressed because his package didn’t get here yet and that he was contemplating going home...this elder believes a lot of stuff and is very gulable so it worked out perfect...its a really long story because we spent all day doing this but in the end we made it look like that elder tried climbing out the window and fell all the way down to the bottom floor and elder Howard just freaked out, it was funny but hard to explain all the details... we just do dumb stuff like that.I didn’t get any mission ties so just everyone forget doing it and stick with dear elder because I am getting those and should be able to get those out in my mission right?Umm we have saturday night devo with just americans and thats all in english, then sunday night devo with everyone and that in both languages, and tuesday night devo with everyone in both languages. At all devos we either get a stake president or mission president or someone that is serving the ctm to speak to us and have all been good thus far...my favorite ones are on sunday because we all get to sing the brazil anthem which Im trying to learn, its not an easy song.I stick with my district till the day we depart, there has been new american and brazilian missionaries reporting and leaving every week thus far and always alot more brazilians than americans and we also get afican groupes too.Umm no tortias but my instructor said they do import them but not as much and their really expensive and cheese is expensive too.I think we go to the muesum friday and that will be my last time proseylting till I leave. Elder santos or Obama wrote a letter to us the other day, he is in Juan Pesoa and said he baptized someone his first sunday there and said his district has a rule that everyone baptizes every week. I really looking forward to going out there and having to speak nothing but português. Today the temple session was all in português and was really hard but fun at the same time.Well sorry I cant think of much to write, Im sure Ill have more exciting stuff like when I baptize someone but I love you all and appreciate all the support and love you give me.Elder Roberts
Thursday, July 31, 2008
More Pics from the CTM
Finally getting his first package! Yea!!!
Brian with one of his instructors
Brian and most of his district. Notice how tall he looks. Maybe he grew already. Either that, or his district is pretty short.Week 6
Hello family,K I think I have the whole mail thing figured out now, last thursday I recieved my dear elder letters and think that that will be a good way to do it when I get to Macieo 3 week from yesterday! Like i said before the mail delivery in brazil is the worst and the delivery workers go on stike all the time so their mail gets helded back and just piles up. I also recieved the package yesterday and will show some pics of that, thankyou soooo much for the treats and pics. I also recieved the 25$ and that will be more than enough for the next 3 weeks. So mission ties work best untill im in maceio in 3 weeks then dear elder, if that makes sense.Jared I was very happy to get your letter and find out that your papers are in, I Want you to Email me when you get it. (Email Nanette at nbrinton1@cox.net so she can give you the email address) You have special permision to do this and it sounds like new zeland is lots of fun. Im praying you get sent to Brazil because theres no better place to get sent to than here. Let me know everything and give me your email, Mom dont freak out we are missionaries and my comp likes to spend 2 hours every pday to email and it gets very boring. Mark i have not yet craped my pants but you will be the first to know when that happens, Craig and Mark my suggestion to you is take spanish classes and study hard because chances are if you learn a language it will be either spanish or somthing similar to it and will bless you greatly when trying to learn português.John thanks for the words of encouragment, sounds like your bored there but your making the best of it and brazil is awsome and im glad I could start it here than in provo tell erin hello and eu ama vocêWell again I didnt go to the Musem last week but instead my distric went to what we call Wall Street, really called Polista Ave, tons of busy people and your message has to be fast or they wont listen and will just ignore you. It was fun but only placed 1 bom and like 10 cards, I found it easier to give my message as we cross the street so that way they have nowhere to go and my message really is´nt that long so I would just talk to them as we waited and as we crossed, I can understand what they say but cant explain well what I want to say and made me sad when this one guy told me that after crist died so did all of the commandments and his church etc...I couldnt explain much to him but that christ is our redeemer and that his church is on the earth again and that we are lead by a profet of god and gave him a free dvd about christ, he didnt seem that interested but keept on talking for a long time about not needing commandments and christ death....but there were lots of people that did like our message and that listend and some of the other elders in my district had some bad luck to were a person grabed the bom and threw it in the street where it got ran over, the elder just smiled, picked it up and gave it to someone else.Went to São Paulo temp again this morning, and has been a good week. I can se my imrovment in the language after going proseylting. I dont remember if I told you, my branch pres told me that in last month alone they called 45 new bishops in my mission, it sounds like my mission is growing fast and that ill be teaching alot of people, and pray ill be ready for that in 3 weeks. The weather here is well middle of winter and im only using my 1 sheet if that explains what im in for...and i herd that some parts of my mission ill be using a hammock and no tie and ill be doing my laundry by hand hehe.Emily I got your letter and Only can tell you to be nice to Gemma and let her brake all the reeds she wants to, take money from my bank acount it helps, you can get mad at mason or tanner but not gemma. and i love eu ama você and remember that if you love me keep my commandmentsSo yeah mother dear I am expecting an email from jared next week and from you, dont worry about the length of your letters, like I said it doesnt take me long to type and my comp takes forever. I thought I sent you a pic of him and me so ill send you another.Heidi thanks for taking the time to say anything your awsome, and jeff sorry i didnt do that for you when you were in argentina heheOhh and I think Ive gained like 6 pounds since ive been here but i blame the lack of my daily exercise, we spend all day sitting a class room and eat 3 times a day your bound to gain weight.So cant really think of much except that my cd player just stoped working a few weeks ago and if you send me a new one im not sure if it will make it...i guess if you want to buy me a cheap one that will read burned cds and if you do I think send it to my mission because thats were ill be by the time that thing makes it into the city and it might come in handy for me to have a card reader so i can continue to send you pictures through email when i get to my mission and if possible mabey another sd card por favor, obligadoK well pictures are from today and yesterday so enjoy and I love you all,Elder Robertsjust a picture of me and all my goodies, the one with me and just one guy is one of my instructors, he lives here in sao paulo north and served in this mission he is of italien background and a cool guy, and the other is most of my district.And speaking of forieners the ctm here get groups of africans, the church sends its african missionaries here to be trained, and then send them back to their missions in africa, most of them speak like 4 diff languages mainly french english portugues and whatever african language they speak, so its very diverse here in this country and in the ctm and I heard there are alot of black people in my mission so jared tell peter that im practically in africa.
Friday, July 25, 2008
July 23, 2008
Hey Family hows it going?
Thanks for all the letters but i have to tell you that i guess dear elder is only emails for me...the cookie place however delivers emails you send me the price of a letter i think the day after you send it or the day you send it..they call it mission ties...so instead of dear elder use mission ties, im not sure how it works but i think they explain it on their website...
I should explain that i have no use of my debit card while in the ctm and only have a little money to spend every week.
The cookie shop place here that you put money in for me i can use that for email, mail, cookies etc...25 American dollars is like 45 real $ here and a cookie here is i think 2.50 so about 1.25 in dollars. However they usually send me a notice at the ctm if you gave me any money so ill ask the people here if i recieved anything.
Umm i should also tell you that brazil is the worst in the World when it comes to mail. Their mail carriers go on strike every other week and takes anywhere from 5 to 10 days to solve their issues and then they get pilled up on mail to deliver and of course they are still on strike to this day...its been over 10 days i think...but packages do still come for some reason i think they are delivered by somthing else, and i still dont have the package you sent me but it should get here any day now.
ill answer question now:
The language is coming along it has nowhere to go but up...i just do my best and have no other choice but to put my trust in the Lord.
I go to the museum on friday and will let you know next week how that goes...
Well the ctm here is probley similar to the mtc...our district is kind of a funny district and do all the stupid pranks and stuff that goes with being a missionary...i have video and pictures of everything so youll have to wait 2 years to see those...
On P-days i get up at 5:30am and go to the temple for a session, then I email you this letter, then i eat lunch, then my comp and i and most of our district go out to get ice-cream, go to the post office, go to the candy store (my favorite), get pictures develouped if needed and kind of explore our boundries. Last p-day as we were just eploring we ran into this kid that looks around our age and found out he was half german and i spoke to him in german and had alot of fun doing that, we talked to him for problly an hour and then explained to him that we were missionaries and gave him a fee dvd pass along thing, mabey we´ll see him again today. We have to be back at the ctm by 5:00pm and we then eat dinner and then by 6:00 we have mdst or missionary directed study time (tate will learn what that is), but luckily after that we have gym, we get gym 3 times a week and happen to have it on pday, we play basketball outside and sometimes volleyball, its really fun and goes by fast.
There are six elders in my room 2 brazis and 4 from my distict
Our lunch everyday is white rice, beans either brown or black, meat chicken or beef of some sort, always lots of good fruit, the deserts are allways decieving, and the drinks here are good.
Well its good to hear that everyone is doing well, tell liz to get better.
Umm glad to hear my letters that i sent a long time ago made it, not sure when ill recieve any letters with all these mail strikes, but like i mentioned above the mission ties thing works like a charm.
With all my love, Elder Roberts
ps enjoy the pics...president obama came to the ctm
Brian was trying to explain (at the top of his letter)another option for sending him letters to the CTM. There is another site called missionties.com that you can write to him. I think he is saying that dearelder.com isn't sending him his letters through the mail, only through email. However, I am not sure if that is true, because I don't know that they have his email. It might be because they have had a mail strike down there for the reason he hasn't received his letters through the mail. I would still send your letters through dearelder if you have paid for that service. If you haven't then you can try missionties. Either way, he will get your letters. Thanks, Nanette
Thanks for all the letters but i have to tell you that i guess dear elder is only emails for me...the cookie place however delivers emails you send me the price of a letter i think the day after you send it or the day you send it..they call it mission ties...so instead of dear elder use mission ties, im not sure how it works but i think they explain it on their website...
I should explain that i have no use of my debit card while in the ctm and only have a little money to spend every week.
The cookie shop place here that you put money in for me i can use that for email, mail, cookies etc...25 American dollars is like 45 real $ here and a cookie here is i think 2.50 so about 1.25 in dollars. However they usually send me a notice at the ctm if you gave me any money so ill ask the people here if i recieved anything.
Umm i should also tell you that brazil is the worst in the World when it comes to mail. Their mail carriers go on strike every other week and takes anywhere from 5 to 10 days to solve their issues and then they get pilled up on mail to deliver and of course they are still on strike to this day...its been over 10 days i think...but packages do still come for some reason i think they are delivered by somthing else, and i still dont have the package you sent me but it should get here any day now.
ill answer question now:
The language is coming along it has nowhere to go but up...i just do my best and have no other choice but to put my trust in the Lord.
I go to the museum on friday and will let you know next week how that goes...
Well the ctm here is probley similar to the mtc...our district is kind of a funny district and do all the stupid pranks and stuff that goes with being a missionary...i have video and pictures of everything so youll have to wait 2 years to see those...
On P-days i get up at 5:30am and go to the temple for a session, then I email you this letter, then i eat lunch, then my comp and i and most of our district go out to get ice-cream, go to the post office, go to the candy store (my favorite), get pictures develouped if needed and kind of explore our boundries. Last p-day as we were just eploring we ran into this kid that looks around our age and found out he was half german and i spoke to him in german and had alot of fun doing that, we talked to him for problly an hour and then explained to him that we were missionaries and gave him a fee dvd pass along thing, mabey we´ll see him again today. We have to be back at the ctm by 5:00pm and we then eat dinner and then by 6:00 we have mdst or missionary directed study time (tate will learn what that is), but luckily after that we have gym, we get gym 3 times a week and happen to have it on pday, we play basketball outside and sometimes volleyball, its really fun and goes by fast.
There are six elders in my room 2 brazis and 4 from my distict
Our lunch everyday is white rice, beans either brown or black, meat chicken or beef of some sort, always lots of good fruit, the deserts are allways decieving, and the drinks here are good.
Well its good to hear that everyone is doing well, tell liz to get better.
Umm glad to hear my letters that i sent a long time ago made it, not sure when ill recieve any letters with all these mail strikes, but like i mentioned above the mission ties thing works like a charm.
With all my love, Elder Roberts
ps enjoy the pics...president obama came to the ctm
Brian was trying to explain (at the top of his letter)another option for sending him letters to the CTM. There is another site called missionties.com that you can write to him. I think he is saying that dearelder.com isn't sending him his letters through the mail, only through email. However, I am not sure if that is true, because I don't know that they have his email. It might be because they have had a mail strike down there for the reason he hasn't received his letters through the mail. I would still send your letters through dearelder if you have paid for that service. If you haven't then you can try missionties. Either way, he will get your letters. Thanks, Nanette
Thursday, July 17, 2008
July 16, 2008 (One month in MTC)
Well I guess your in chicago or somthing so I hope thats going well. Tate's time is up, let me know how the temple and mtc trip to provo goes.
Today I got to go to the Sao Paulo temple and do initatories, it is by far a very beautiful temple and one I would recomend attending...
Hi Jeff, how is texas working out?
Emily, if you love me then keep my commandments
I still need my moms adress, i had a letter to send to her today
Stacie, if you love me then keep my commandments
Jared, how is the mission thing coming along?
Hey Robert if you can por favor send myself and Jared our line of priesthood obligado
Umm mom I sent that Mr. Cheneys mission tie thing, if you want to you can give me money to spend here since im on a budget at the ctm and they have amazing cookies and ice-cream here...
Hey David who won the Euro cup?
Happy late birthday Mason
Gemma my princess do you love me?
Ohh yeah you probably want to know how my first proselyting expereince went? Well our district last friday was sent to the metro station in the lower part of the city were we split up as companions and did our work for three hours. Me and my comp placed 4 boms and 30 cards...it was fun...i got rejected alot but many of the people were kind and listened and was overall a good experience of not understanding a word anyone was saying and probly embarising myself and not knowing it. This city is huge and that little part we went to has about 3 million people walk through there each day! I think we did good and get to go to I think a museum next week to do it all over again.
Mark cooley I am expecting you to get hold of jason and jared and whoever and getting me info on how things are going and jareds mission etc...and henry tell him to write me idk
Now that im going to the SP temple Ill be getting back earlier to the ctm so Ill be emailing sooner than usuall so make sure you email me the day before or somthing.
With love Elder Roberts
Today I got to go to the Sao Paulo temple and do initatories, it is by far a very beautiful temple and one I would recomend attending...
Hi Jeff, how is texas working out?
Emily, if you love me then keep my commandments
I still need my moms adress, i had a letter to send to her today
Stacie, if you love me then keep my commandments
Jared, how is the mission thing coming along?
Hey Robert if you can por favor send myself and Jared our line of priesthood obligado
Umm mom I sent that Mr. Cheneys mission tie thing, if you want to you can give me money to spend here since im on a budget at the ctm and they have amazing cookies and ice-cream here...
Hey David who won the Euro cup?
Happy late birthday Mason
Gemma my princess do you love me?
Ohh yeah you probably want to know how my first proselyting expereince went? Well our district last friday was sent to the metro station in the lower part of the city were we split up as companions and did our work for three hours. Me and my comp placed 4 boms and 30 cards...it was fun...i got rejected alot but many of the people were kind and listened and was overall a good experience of not understanding a word anyone was saying and probly embarising myself and not knowing it. This city is huge and that little part we went to has about 3 million people walk through there each day! I think we did good and get to go to I think a museum next week to do it all over again.
Mark cooley I am expecting you to get hold of jason and jared and whoever and getting me info on how things are going and jareds mission etc...and henry tell him to write me idk
Now that im going to the SP temple Ill be getting back earlier to the ctm so Ill be emailing sooner than usuall so make sure you email me the day before or somthing.
With love Elder Roberts
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Another Week
Ohh yeah the trip to sao paulo, well there was a delay in phx so yeah i could
have waited an extra hour with you guys but didnt matter to me, after i went
through security in phx there was another elder there, elder kilgrow and he is
from flagstaff and thats were we found the flight was an hour late arriving,
there were two flights to sao paulo that night and we got delayed again we we
got to dallas because of traffic or too many planes coming in, but we eventually
got into the airport were we meet with another elder, elder howard from colorado
he had some delays as well and we switched our tickets for the last flight to
sao paulo which was also delayed 30min but eventually around 8:30 dallas time we
were off the ground, we did try to contact sonja and the ctm before we left
dallas but they never spoke english and we did get english eventually but they
either hung up on us or we would lose the connection except elder howard said
that he got hold of them and told them what flight he was getting on so they
expected at least on missionary to be late. So we tagged along and figured we
would just go with howard and turns out no one was there to pick us up at the
airport so we have three gringos who dont speak the language and we again had to
depend on the phone thing, well eventually we got hold of the guy that was
supposed to pick us up and just told him misioanarios and what number to pick us
up at, so we waited about an hour for him to pick us up and was a fun drive to
the ctm, so we were supposed to be at the ctm around i think it was 7am and
didnt get there till 11:30am, but the three of us decided that the delays were
ment to happen to elder howard wouldnt be alone on that flight because I guess
imagine yourself in a foreign country alone with noone there to pick you up so
things happen for a reason....
Umm this week they decorated the cafteria with american decorations and had an
ice-cream buffet, that was fun and we all sang the national anthem on sunday
conference, when we usually sing the brazilian anthem every sunday. Today we
went to campinas temple again and hope to go to sao paulo next week, tomorrow my
district goes to police federal to get fingerprinted etc, and on friday morning
they take us out to the city to do our first street contacts with pass along
cards and boms, i hope i do well pray for me hehe, breakfast is the same every
morning cold ham and cheese with bread roles, lunch is their biggest meal of
almost always rice beans meat, and dinner is the same as luch just not as big i
guess, ive developed the habbit of drinking their gaurana which is a soda famous
down here and they have really good fruit, so i do like the food and it reminds
me of sis castellanos´s cooking, i just bought 4 bags of their gummi worms today
that should last me the week, i have adjusted to their candy, currently there is
just four of us in our room but they will put 2 brazis in our room tomorrow im
sure and they stay 3 weeks then leave and then the next day we get 2 more, the
first week is the longest but is all downhill after that so tell tate to just
stick it out and its funny i think i might have eaten with his friend just last
night with some brazis, im not sure but i will look for him, well i appretiate
anything you send me and i did send some photos to emily and stacie and i told
them to share them with you so hopfully you get those and i get 45 min to email
and luckly the store is open because everything is closed today because its some
holiday here today and the streets are empty, ive never seen it this empty.
Heidi good luck driving just dont get caught speeding
Emily where are you?
Stacie hi
Mark tell jason and jared to write me and i need yours and their adresses and
find out the status of jareds mission and let me know as soon as he gets that
call
henry its weird thinking that i was just in your room and now youre there but i
still feel like your in newyork
have fun in chicago and ohh yeah i need my mothers adress as well and the
antonelis
I love you all and if you you want me to write you youll have to either send me
a letter or give me your (home)address because i was lazy and didnt get them from you
before i left. well again have fun and let me know how things go with tate and
the whole vacation things
Elder Roberts (they pronounce it hoberts) and theres this brazi that looks like
barrak obama ill have to send you the picture of us next week hehe
have waited an extra hour with you guys but didnt matter to me, after i went
through security in phx there was another elder there, elder kilgrow and he is
from flagstaff and thats were we found the flight was an hour late arriving,
there were two flights to sao paulo that night and we got delayed again we we
got to dallas because of traffic or too many planes coming in, but we eventually
got into the airport were we meet with another elder, elder howard from colorado
he had some delays as well and we switched our tickets for the last flight to
sao paulo which was also delayed 30min but eventually around 8:30 dallas time we
were off the ground, we did try to contact sonja and the ctm before we left
dallas but they never spoke english and we did get english eventually but they
either hung up on us or we would lose the connection except elder howard said
that he got hold of them and told them what flight he was getting on so they
expected at least on missionary to be late. So we tagged along and figured we
would just go with howard and turns out no one was there to pick us up at the
airport so we have three gringos who dont speak the language and we again had to
depend on the phone thing, well eventually we got hold of the guy that was
supposed to pick us up and just told him misioanarios and what number to pick us
up at, so we waited about an hour for him to pick us up and was a fun drive to
the ctm, so we were supposed to be at the ctm around i think it was 7am and
didnt get there till 11:30am, but the three of us decided that the delays were
ment to happen to elder howard wouldnt be alone on that flight because I guess
imagine yourself in a foreign country alone with noone there to pick you up so
things happen for a reason....
Umm this week they decorated the cafteria with american decorations and had an
ice-cream buffet, that was fun and we all sang the national anthem on sunday
conference, when we usually sing the brazilian anthem every sunday. Today we
went to campinas temple again and hope to go to sao paulo next week, tomorrow my
district goes to police federal to get fingerprinted etc, and on friday morning
they take us out to the city to do our first street contacts with pass along
cards and boms, i hope i do well pray for me hehe, breakfast is the same every
morning cold ham and cheese with bread roles, lunch is their biggest meal of
almost always rice beans meat, and dinner is the same as luch just not as big i
guess, ive developed the habbit of drinking their gaurana which is a soda famous
down here and they have really good fruit, so i do like the food and it reminds
me of sis castellanos´s cooking, i just bought 4 bags of their gummi worms today
that should last me the week, i have adjusted to their candy, currently there is
just four of us in our room but they will put 2 brazis in our room tomorrow im
sure and they stay 3 weeks then leave and then the next day we get 2 more, the
first week is the longest but is all downhill after that so tell tate to just
stick it out and its funny i think i might have eaten with his friend just last
night with some brazis, im not sure but i will look for him, well i appretiate
anything you send me and i did send some photos to emily and stacie and i told
them to share them with you so hopfully you get those and i get 45 min to email
and luckly the store is open because everything is closed today because its some
holiday here today and the streets are empty, ive never seen it this empty.
Heidi good luck driving just dont get caught speeding
Emily where are you?
Stacie hi
Mark tell jason and jared to write me and i need yours and their adresses and
find out the status of jareds mission and let me know as soon as he gets that
call
henry its weird thinking that i was just in your room and now youre there but i
still feel like your in newyork
have fun in chicago and ohh yeah i need my mothers adress as well and the
antonelis
I love you all and if you you want me to write you youll have to either send me
a letter or give me your (home)address because i was lazy and didnt get them from you
before i left. well again have fun and let me know how things go with tate and
the whole vacation things
Elder Roberts (they pronounce it hoberts) and theres this brazi that looks like
barrak obama ill have to send you the picture of us next week hehe
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Week Two in CTM
Yes I can believe it has been 2 weeks and time is going faster now, its just the first week to adjust to the new schedule and get the hang of things. For the moment I dont print anything I just read and then type.Tell my mom that the projector and everything was in the computer lab the last day I left lincoln and that I love her too. Henry´s number is 480-649-9274, sounds like it is hot, but believe it or not it gets a little cold here on some mornings and nights and there are times I wish i had that sweater, but then again it somtimes is hot in the classroom so the wheather is a bit weird here. It does rain but were inside most the time, and I never really see the sun. The only thing I can think of that you can send is Candy!(I´m down to my last bag of gummi bears) Any american goods would be greatly appreciated and the pictures of me at work and scouts and any other you want to add to that but remember it could take 4 weeks for something like that to get here so you would have to send it within the week I think. Thats cool that Tate is leaving haha yeah he is definitaley underestimating how busy he will be. We went to campinas this morning and are transfering rooms to the 6th floor and the highest floor so I´ll be doing that after this email. I´m glad to be going up there because we got a room on the outerside of the building with a sweet view of the city, i´ll send a picture when i take one next week. My companion is Elder Plaizier from Bountiful Utah and plays football. There are 12 of us total, and we had to say goodbye to our two brazi´s that shared the old room with us, elder xosto and elder silva, alot of the brazilians (brazi´s we call them) have the same last name and they come in every week and leave after three. Nothing much new, just a bunch of crazy elders here doing crazy stuff that I wont tell you about haha. So thanks for the picture Hiedi and Emily I hope you guys have fun camping, have henry write me. I sent him a letter last wednsday and 1 to emily and 1 to stacie today, not sure how long it takes it to get there but let me know. Hey Emily I was showing elder xosto (he is from the amazon in Manaus) pictures of our family and he said you were hot! Haha I put his picture in the letter i sent you.
Stacie I love you
Craig get to work
John and Jason good luck
Julie how are the kids?
Grandpa happy birthday! July 4th.
Grandma I love you
Susan good luck
Hiedi your cool
Tate is in for a shocker
Carlos how is it with Henry, tell me everything.
I´m still waiting to hear from Jared, I want to know everything and need his adress.
Jason Freedel I love you and write me or email me and i need your adress
Mother dear Nanette any other adresses you can think of send to meI love you all and farwell for another week in Sao Paulo!
Let me know if the three pictures i added work or not, the white elder is my companion and the other is elder xosto the guy that thinks emily is hot and the third is just another pic of the city from another bedroom.
Stacie I love you
Craig get to work
John and Jason good luck
Julie how are the kids?
Grandpa happy birthday! July 4th.
Grandma I love you
Susan good luck
Hiedi your cool
Tate is in for a shocker
Carlos how is it with Henry, tell me everything.
I´m still waiting to hear from Jared, I want to know everything and need his adress.
Jason Freedel I love you and write me or email me and i need your adress
Mother dear Nanette any other adresses you can think of send to meI love you all and farwell for another week in Sao Paulo!
Let me know if the three pictures i added work or not, the white elder is my companion and the other is elder xosto the guy that thinks emily is hot and the third is just another pic of the city from another bedroom.
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