28 Nov 2011 - Palmeiras Area (Dad)

[Thanksgiving was last Thursday. I'm assuming they don't celebrate the Pilgrim's feast in tropical Brazil, but maybe you americanos remembered to stuff some stale bread in an old rooster and roast him up.] Yeah we didn't do anything for Thanksgiving. We have 6 Americans in the home we are all poor bums and don't want to spend money on anything. We eat chicken everyday anyways. It is almost the same thing as turkey. I eat stale bread everyday so you don't have to worry about that.

[I sent him Michelle's Thanksgiving Facebook photo of Michael downing a bottle of sparkling cider.] Yep looks just like Michael. Apparently, he is an Intramural champion. I didn't know Sparkling cider chugging was an intramural sport there.

[I mentioned that I spent the Thanksgiving holiday lazing about and watching football.] I can't wait til I get to laze around and watch sports all day. The thing I miss the most is taco bell and being able to sleep whenever you want. Oh....and you guys too :) I guess life is all about being tired all the time and doing things that mean something instead of lazing around darn.

[Have you recovered your health yet?] I have semi recovered from my health. I still have a hacking lung and I don't know if that will ever leave. [Where is Palmeiras?] Palmeiras is in the southern part of Fortaleza. It is at the end of the city and after that there is no more city. It is by Jangurussu, say that 3 times fast.

This week we had zone conference and Elder Costa (the Seventy) was there and talked a lot to us. It was really good. He talked a lot about making the best time out of the mission and that we should love this place a lot. I really do love it here and I'm glad that I'm here. I know that this is the best place ever that I should be and nothing else would be a better thing for me to do. Sister Costa talked to us about how we should come to know that this is the best place for us. The other Elders are being annoying right now and they are trying to waste my time so it is hard to actually say anything of worth. I really felt the spirit while I was there though. I was able to think about why I'm here and if I had some other motives. I know that I'm here for the right reasons and that the Lord loves me. If I ended my mission now, I would have no regrets and I am trying my best right now!

21 Nov 2011 - Palmeiras Area (Mom)

When is Thanksgiving? We are living with 5 Americans so maybe we can do something for Thanksgiving. My 1st Thanksgiving was LAME!

[We hosted an empty-nester FHE.] Good ole empty nester FHE. You guys should still play some sweet games! You should all go out to the church parking lot and play mini van tag. The person with the most paint scrapes loses, you know healthy fun adult games. Or you could go to the Pharmacy and see who has the best blood pressure numbers and pulse. That is what I use to do with my roommates every time we went to the store :)

Did you find Elder Hawkes in the photos? I tried to get my pretty face to show up. People were going crazy. "Get out of my way" "Your fat head is in the way" People go crazy to see Apostles. It was fun, he invoked some cool blessings so that is always fun.

21 Nov 2011 - Palmeiras Area (Dad)

[Not getting an email from you on Monday is always a bummer for me. I guessed that it probably had to do with the visiting General Authorities, but I still missed hearing from you.] Well you guessed right. Elder Bednar came on P-Day so they said we could email on the 15th. Unluckily, that was national get-drunk-and-don't-open-any-store-so-that-the-poor-Elders-can-e-mail day aka a national holiday. So President let us use email on Wednesday. [... as a parent it means the world to hear from your son, especially when you hear how much he loves serving. Being a parent--and being a missionary serving others--makes you appreciate and comprehend so much more how our Father in Heaven feels about us.] It is true though, I have felt a part of the love that God feels for each and everyone of us. Especially when people reject us saying that they already have the truth. You just feel sad because they are so sure, but they aren't putting their faith in the right beliefs. Imagine how faithful and powerful they would be if they had the true church and its true teachings.

Elder Bednar did things a little differently. He just didn't talk to us but he asked us questions and had us read 2 of his talks before he came. So he asked what we learned and it was more of a missionary lesson rather than a talk. It was cool. It is always fun to get Q&A time with an Apostle. They always disappoint our feeble, worldly minds though. One Elder asked if Elder Bednar would teach us a little about the Atonement. We were all waiting for angels to minister and see visions and stuff like that. Elder Bednar just told us to get an inexpensive copy of the Book of Mormon, read it a lot for 6 months thinking about the Atonement. Then write a one page paper about what you learned. "Lame!" thought the feeble, give-it-to-me-now part of the brain. He said that he could tell us what he learned, but it wouldn't matter much to us in 3 years. It wouldn't stick, but if we learned it ourselves then we would never forget. Yeah yeah punch our feeble brains out of the way and dust off the ole thinking caps and stuff :) It was great though. He said he has done that for many gospel questions that he has had during his life. So I guess we can all learn something here. Stop waiting for the mysteries and answers to fall from the sky and go out and get them by hard work and brutally subduing your feeble worldly brains with hard work and inspiration! YEAH!

16 Nov 2011 - Palmeiras Area (Mom)

I'm doing well. This week was a good week. Elder Bednar talked to us and Elder Evans, a Seventy, talked to us on Friday. Elder Costa, Area Pres. of Brazil, will talk to us the 23rd I think.

[We just finished watching the movie 17 Miracles.] Never heard of that movie. It should be good. It was an intense story. Everyone has to die eventually, so why not die there in the cold, frozen plains and end the suffering. Besides Zion is in Missouri, they already saw it :) They will be in a wonderful Zion anyways.

[Are you sure they will not be letting you go to the ground breaking ceremony for the temple?] I'm sure, he forbid it. Only the Bishops and their families and the Stake Presidents and their families will go. Who knows why, but at least Elder Bednar talked to us. He didn't shake our hands for some reason but oh well. It's cool though, the temple is officially being started. I don't know what it is going to look like.

[Mom is keeping a notebook of her thoughts as she studies the Book of Mormon.] That is a good idea. Elder Bednar told us that we should have our own "Small plates" like they had in the Book of Mormon. Don't write down everything that happened in life, large plates, but the small spiritual things that happened, small plates. Then we will have our own sacred record. He also gave us a good study idea. Get a new cheap paperback Book of Mormon and read it as much as you can for 6 months than write a one page report about the Atonement to learn more about it. While reading you will mark things about the Atonement of course. He says he has done it many times since 1995. He says one of his only treasures is all the paperback Book of Mormons that he has in a bookshelf. Each of them answered a different question. He wanted to know more about the Plan of Salvation so he would get a new Book of Mormon and read it and write a 1 page report.

Something else interesting that he did was invoke blessings upon us. Imagine an Apostle invoking blessings upon your head! He blessed us that as we read the scriptures we will gain a greater love and understanding for them. We will learn to love them and always use them in our lives. He said some other stuff but I don't have my notes with me.

Well my time with an Apostle has come and gone, it was too short but it was great.


[Here's a picture of what the Fortaleza Brazil Temple will look like.]

16 Nov 2011 - Palmeiras Area (Dad)

Well I sent the pictures of when Elder Bednar and Elder Evans came. It was a good day as I'm sure you could imagine. The temple has finally started construction so Satan has called for reinforcements. Good thing Elder Hawkes is here ;)

[I asked about his study program as a trainer.] It is 1 hour personal study, 2 hours companion study, and 1 hour language study. The language study is probably the hardest part because I don't want to make it a boring MTC class :) My companion was serving in Farmington, New Mexico. He served for 3 weeks in a city and 3 weeks on an Indian Reservation. So it is nice because he knows what he is doing. I just have to guide him along sometimes and show him the different things that we do here. Well I don't have much time since Michael sent me a letter. It was great with Elder Bednar.

7 Nov 2011 - Palmeiras Area (Mom)

I don't have to worry about Daylight savings time here yes! Although I missed an hour of sleep ;) [A focus of our stake conference was family history and the temple.] I was thinking about doing indexing after the mission to use my awesome Portuguese skills. You can do it on the Internet these days, so that is kind of cool. It is hard for us young kids to have a desire to do that kind of temple work. It talks about it in my Patriarchal blessing so I should probably do something about that :)

 

The name finding part sounds kind of boring but you can use it as an excuse to go on trips. Tell Dad you need to look at the records in Germany and England and hit up some tourist while you are there.

 

There is this lady in my new ward that talks about the craziest stuff and makes the craziest jokes. She looked at my new companion and said "You're a cutie." Roughly translated.

 

I think time will start flying faster after Christmas passes, the next call will be a few weeks before I get home. I made a goal awhile back to share my testimony every fast Sunday here and I always feel the spirit. I'm going to miss these people. I just love them to death. It doesn't bother me until I get up and bear my testimony. No matter what, I always tear up when I talk about the people. They are truly special. I'm so glad to be here. I'm not perfect, but I don't have regrets from my mission. Sometimes I wish I wasn't too dumb and would change more and faster but I just have to be patient. I don't think anybody knows how much my mission has changed my life, it has done wonders for me. Don't expect me to come back perfect though :)

7 Nov 2011 - Palmeiras Area (Dad)

[Hey, thanks for the graphic description of the wonders of cashew nuts. They'll be so much more appealing now when I eat them. Your Halloween photo shows you're still looking like your old self. I'll be sure to post that one on Facebook so all your BYU-I girls will be sure to keep you on their RM candidate list.] Well now you know where they came from! It is the fruit that is nasty anyways :) You can still enjoy the delicious roasted flavor of the nuts. Sadly, all of my BYU-I girls are already married. You know how it is at BYU. You can't leave for 2 years hoping that they will stay single.

 

Well training is intense. They have a new training program so that makes it even more intense. 12 weeks of studying for 4 hours everyday. It will be good for me and him though. He speaks pretty well, he just has to get used to the way they speak here in Ceará. It's good too because they always want to work 24/7 and they remind you of the stuff that you forgot that you knew in the beginning. It should be good, I just have to set pride aside and guide him rather tell him what to do. We got transferred to a place called Palmeiras, (Palm Trees) It is ghetto and everyone feels bad for my new companion because this is his first area. It is the typical poor neighborhood and has all the wonderful dangers that such places have to offer. We have a rented out place for church so that is different. They are building a huge chapel, but since they have 2 hours of nap time after lunch it should take the workers years to build. My area seems cool. It has a lot more humble people than my last rich area did. I feel back at home, the people here accept to missionaries so much faster. It will be good. I just hope we have to good experiences and baptisms so my companion gets a good taste at the beginning.

 

I'm glad they are going to finally start building the temple here. It will be good for the people since they can only go 2 times a year to Recife. Everyone wants scriptures, posters, music, etc that you can only get at the Distribution Center. It will be a wonderful blessing, and maybe I'll be able to make it back for the dedication, but I doubt it. Maybe I'll take a dip in the water too at that time :) I have been missing the temple lately and it will be nice to go back in 7 months. It is a blessing to be able to go whenever you want. A general authority said in a stake conference last September that less people go to the temple when a temple is built closer. Example, less people from Ceará are going to go to the temple when it is built here in Fortaleza. It's odd that people are willing to drive for 3 days on a bus, but not 20 minutes to go to the temple.