September 26th, 2016

     WOW so this week was crazy but it flew by! I am finally in Curitiba! I feel like I am in a different country than the MTC. Everything is so different. I haven´t seen an American in like 6 days lol. It is awesome though! So I will tell little stories and this email will probably be really scattered.
     Sorry. sooo we flew in from São Paulo on Tuesday and we had to wake up really early to get to the airport so I was pretty dead. The plane was so tiny and had literally no leg room BUT the flight attendent saw that I was like a foot taller than everyone on the plane and moved me to the exit row with tons of leg room and I just zonked out the whole flight. It was grand. Anyways we show up and president picks us up and we drive to the mission home where we sat around for a couple hours while each missionary did personal get to know you interviews with president. He is such an awesome guy and I am super excited to work with and get to know him over the next two years. He is a pretty knew president so I will have him for the whole mission. We ate an amazing lunch at presidents home. The food here is amazing. The only bummer is in Brazil lunch is like the main meal so every one pigs out at like noon and then naps till like 3 lol and we eat dinner when we get back at 9:30. Trying to find someone to talk to during lunch tho is impossible.
      Anyways, That night we did a little orientation thing and then got our new companions. My companion is Elder França and our area is called Novo Mundo. It is just outside the city and has everything from way nice houses to super poor areas. The houses here are really pretty though. The first couple days were definitely tough cause I live in  a house with 3 Brazillians (that are way cool) but I can´t ever speak english which is hard. After meeting the ward and such it feels a lot more like home now. The ward is super established and strong. It is really cool! I love the people! They are all super happy and excited to hear the gospel. 
     There are literally so many dogs here. They are just all over the streets and I have yet to find a house that doesn´t have at least 2 dogs. I can hardly speak/understand the language but throw in two barking dogs and it gets a whole lot harder.
      Our area is brand new. A ward split and this Sunday was the first meeting of the new ward so we are starting fresh with a lot of things which is perfect cause I am new. I was asked to give a little talk on sunday and it went well. People say they understand everything I say but I dont know if I believe it.
     

Ok so one highlight of the week was they have this store that is like a cereal warehouse. You have to understand first that cereal here is so expensive. A small box of like frosted flakes is like $7 but at this warehouse you can get a kilogram aka a giant bag of cereal for like $4 so that was way sick. I bought a bunch and that has been breakfast and dinner every day this week. Another thing, in the morning the other day we were reading scriptures and stuff and then randomly there was a huge crash and we walk outside and this car just plowed through a stop sign basically right in our front yard lol. Its only been a week but it has been awesome and I am super excited to keep learning and teaching! Hope all is well back in the states! Speak english and eat pizza for me! I´ll attach photos below of MTC and random stuff!

September 16, 2016

    WOO hey everyone! Hope you all had super awesome weeks! I cannot believe how fast time is flying here! I feel like I was on yesterday andon monday I fly out of here to Curitiba! I am way beyond stoked to go. The CTM has been great and I have learned a ton about the gospel and language which was definitely necessary lol but I am ready to start working and have some awesome experiences. So this week was like the rest. Lots of sitting at a desk and learning all day but I do have the funny story of the week.

      So on  monday Elder Nydegger woke up sick and we went to see the doctor and he had a high fever and had to stay in the room all day. Around dinner time, Elder Herlin and I were bringing dinner to the room for him. We were in the elevator, the door opens and we step out. Almost right as we get out the power goes out. Like a minute earlier and we would´ve been trapped in the elevator. My family knows how much I love elevators.(They were my childhood fear) Anyways the entire building is pitch black and it's way hot here so the building just started getting wicked hot cause no a/c. Because it's so warm all the time here, the entire CTM is an open air building. We were not really sure what was going on but we had basketball time so we changed and went out to play. By the time we got out to the court the lights were back on. We get to the court and there are literally billions of these little moth fly things everywhere. You couldn't even see the lamp posts because there were so many of them around it. IT was nasty, but we thought no big deal. This was before we tried playing. These bugs were literally everywhere. It was like a plague jklol. They wouldn´t let you run on the track because you just inhale them. They were also like super fragile so you would just be standing there, they would fly into you and just drop dead and their wings fall off. Super duper strange. Then like 10 minutes later the court just clears up and theres like literally not a bug in sight. It was really really weird. We finish playing and head back inside to find that because the power went out and the dorms are all like way hot now that all these bugs went inside because they are tropical and attracted to heat. So all the milllion bugs were in our rooms and bathroom and halls. Super funny just cause it was way crazy. Then like a snap again they all dissappeared leaving a bunch of wings and dead moths all over the floor. Quite the experience!

     

This week we also got to sing the national anthem with all the American missionaries on 9/11 which was really special. Proscelyting this week was super good and super cool! We had a lot of great conversations. We were talking to this one guy at a bus stop and this lady comes running down the street screaming "MISSIONARIES!!! I WANT A BOOK OF MORMON! TELL ME YOUR MESSAGE!" Apparently she has been searching for missionaries for a while and wants to start reading the Book of Mormon. It was super cool but I know it won't always be that easy! That is about all I have for this week! You all rock! I don't know when I will email next because my whole schedule will change but probably next monday so a little over a week! Go Team God! 

September 9th, 2016

     Tudo bem amigos?! Can´t believe it has already been another week here in Brazil. The time really is flying and next week I fly to Curitiba! I am way beyond excited to get out of the MTC. It has been fun and helped a ton obviously but, oh boy I am way excited to get out in the field and start meeting people.

     Alright so highlight of the week was definitely the visit from Neil L. Anderson! He gave a really good talk and definitely inspired people here like crazy. BUT the cooler part of this story is that my companion Elder Nydegger apparently is family friends with him so before the devotional he requested to take pictures and talk to him and his companions (aka me). There are a ton of missionaries here and obviously, everyone would want a picture with him so they don´t allow it cause it would take all day. So we were the only missionaries that got to talk to him and take a picture with him and it was way cool!

     Also this week was independence day here and the meals were wayyyyyy good. They had a huge ice cream bar (I know it doesn´t sound that exciting but when the only thing they have after dinner is jello, ice cream becomes a highlight of your week) It was way awesome! Parties all over in the streets right now because of independence day. Seems more like independence week.

      It is absolutely crazy that I only have one week left here! I am so excited and I feel pretty prepared to go. We get a ton of practice to speak and listen to full-speed Portuguese so I don´t think I will have too big of a surprise but it will definitely still be a huge adjustment! I am ready! All the friends I have made here are leaving and it feels super weird here in the MTC now being the oldest and not having the same people but there are still a ton of cool elders here that leave after us so all is well!

      We go proselytizing in São Paulo tomorrow morning for about 3 hours which will be fun and I can´t wait! This week is packed with tons of practice opportunities so I am sure it will just fly by! It will definitely be sad changing districts and companions cause we have grown super super tight and have built great friendships but we are all going to the same mission so I am sure some of us will cross paths again on the mish! Alright, that's really all I have for this week! You all rock! I love hearing from you! Cião! 

September 2nd 2016

     Hi, everyone! Life is rich here in Brazil! This week has been a lot of the same old stuff though so this email won´t be that exciting.
     Highlight of the week was probably proselytising out in the streets last Saturday. They brought a big group of us and dropped us in the times square of São Paulo. It was pretty cool and definitely a humbling experience. The good news is I was actually able to communicate with people and understand most of what everyone was saying. Still shocked that we have learned the language so fast here! The teachers are incredible which makes it really fun and effective. My instructor is a big blink 182 fan which is super funny. Makes me miss home!
      I bought these super cool highlighters in the streets last week and who know something could make a person so happy! Everyone is super jealous of them and I am known as the highlighter kid to the new missionaries here.      It's crazy that we are already starting week 5 this Monday! I feel like I just got here but also feel like I have been here an eternity! The days are so slow but the weeks fly by which doesn´t make sense but it´s true. I have made a bunch of super good friends here so it has been hard to say goodbye every week to some really cool people. We are the veterans here now which is super crazy as well.
      In other news Neil A. Anderson is coming to the MTC here Wednesday and everyone is super stoked for it! It will definitely be an experience you remember for the rest of your life.
      We went to the temple this morning which was cool and super pretty. It is super small and in the middle of a super busy part of town but all of São Paulo is busy!
      That is really all the good stuff this week! We have a really packed schedule of classes so my emails should spice up a little more in about 2 weeks! You all rock! Fill me in on life in America 

 Eat some  real pizza for me! Cião!