FAMILIA!!!! FRIENDSS!!! (1st week in the mission field)

Hello everyone!

Wow, it feels like I've been away for SO long! Time is flying past and so much has happened. I don't know where to begin really! I guess I can start from my time at the Missionary Training Centre (MTC). Those 12 days were truly days of growth - in terms of knowledge, spiritual growth and in kilograms. My district (group) at the MTC was a amazing and I'll attach pictures so you can see all their BE-A-U-tiful faces! :) Each person in my group taught me something and I will never forget these amazing Elders and Sisters! My instructors were Irmã Bento and Irmã Marques and I learned so much from them, they just returned from their missions so they were great teachers. I have to admit it wasn't always easy, during my time at MTC I realised I still had a LOT to learn but I know that with Christ's help I will become the missionary He knows I can be. The food at the MTC was glorious and in abundance. I gained like 4kg in 12 days... Yup, I rolling from class to class. ;) We also got the chance to go the Campinas Temple. It's beautiful, I wish you could all come and visit it! The spirit there was wonderful and I can't wait to go back. Most of my district went to São Paulo North too but I had to say goodbye to some amazing friends who went to different missions like Goiania, Salvador Sul and Mozambique. Yeah, I said goodbye to Elder Donker. PEOPLE. Let me tell you, his Portuguese is incredible. Haha, he was a bit shy at first and spoke mainly English but when he did speak Portuguese, it was good! All the Portuguese people back in Ipswich are going to be super amazed! So after two weeks at the CéuTM (Brazilian pun) we left to go meet our Mission President.

President and Sister Farnes - who coordinate and help the missionaries here in São Paulo North - are amazing people. They love the gospel and Jesus Christ and they want nothing less than everyone to follow Him and be baptized. After a nice fireside at their house, we went to a churrascaria and ate LOTS. Anyway, later that day at the Transfer Meeting we (the new group of missionaries) were welcomed with a massive round of applause and cheering, we felt like celebrities. ;) Then I got to meet my companion who would train me and be my mission "dad". His name is Elder Zenteno! He's from Miami, Florida and his parents are from Bolivia. He also has a big family - 8 siblings - and we get on super well, he's hilarious but very focused too. Dad, I have no idea how you found him on Facebook already, technology these days eh? ;) This is his last area but he is super duper excited and wants to work hard til the last second of his mission.

So, the area me and Elder Zenteno are working in is called Cidade Nova and the area is Itú. It is a blessed area indeed. The members of the church here are super missionaries too, without their help we'd many fewer baptisms and empty stomachs (THE FOOD IS SO GOOD). Anyway, on my very first dayhere on the mission we had a baptism! His name is Wallace, a little guy who loves the church and really wanted to get involved. He is hilarious! I was able to baptize him which is a memory I'll never forget. There was only adult baptismal clothes so we had to roll up the legs and arms. Bless him, he was a tad embarrassed. He wanted to be baptized again when he left the water which was so sweet. :)

Ah... I should've brought my diary along to write this email. So much has happened this week and my mind is blank. Typical. :P

Well, I'm in love with Brazilian people. They are incredibly faithful, receptive and warm people. People are very poor but boy, are they rich in spirit! Honestly, we go to some of the most poor houses I've ever seen but when it comes to feeding us hungry missionaries they don't hold back. Something they say is "Não é muito mas foi feito com amor". This week we visited a lady who was baptized a few months ago, her name is Helena. We walked into her house which was almost a favela. She was embarrassed and apologised for the mess. The house smelt of smoke because of the other person who lived there. She was slow of speech and probably not had much education. But at that moment when it could've been so easy to judge I felt nothing but love for that lady. God sees her not as she is but as she will be one day and I'm trying to do the same to everyone. It helps a lot when teaching these humble people and it has allowed me to have many uplifting and spiritual experiences in such a short amount of time.

I'm following my big brother Mosíah's advice to be that type of missionary who doesn't wait to speak but one who listens intently to the person and then thinks what to say. The other day, me and my companion went over to Porto Feliz (a different area of Itú) for a baptismal interview of man called Rodney who the Sisters have been teaching. He met the missionaries 8 years ago but lost contact and the sisters have only just found him again. We sat in his living room and on the verge of crying, he opened up about his serious addiction to tobacco and that one thing was holding his back from joining the church. Four missionaries were sat there in his living room and as we bore testimony and spoke words of encouragement and hope the spirit we felt was off the charts. I hadn't spoken for most of the time because I was listening to this man who was going through a lot of pain. When I finally spoke, I shared with him the scripture in Alma 36:21 (Google that reference if you don't have scriptures) and told him that the hopelessness he felt with this addiction could be gone through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and when he did rely on Him, the joy he would feel would be incomparable to the pain he was now feeling. My heart was pumping so hard and I knew that every word me, Elder Zenteno, Sister Nobre and Sister Machado spoke to him was true and there's no way I could deny that feeling. I don't know if he will get baptized in the end but we did out part and that's more important.

Eesh, this is getting pretty long... Sorry for those with short attention spans. If I was reading this, I probably wouldn't have made it this far. :P

Me and Elder Zenteno this week have visited people with a wide-range of problems and difficulties. Poor people (most people), people who have lost very young people in their families, parents of drug addicts desperate for help, young parents wanting a united family, very faithful and God fearing people (again, most people) and many more. One thing I realise is that the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect for anyone and any problems they are facing. It is a priceless feeling leaving someones house knowing you've made a difference in their day, week and even in their life.

Ah, my computer session ends in 18 minutes! What else do you want to hear? Funny stories, more uplifting stuff? Honestly so much has happened that this blog writing business is very tricky. Erm...

I'll just write some random stuff that comes to mind:

• People in Brazil clap instead of knocking on the door, everyone must feel very congratulated constantly.

• IT'S SO HOT HERE. I think if someone pushed me over I would fall as a pile of dust on the floor. Haha, I'm exaggerating slightly. And it's winter here. Their winter here would be a "Mega heatwave" news-headlining summer in England that would cause uproar throughout the nation. Can't wait for summer. Woo!

• Brazilians eat rice and beans with everything.

• I love Brazil.

• I love Brazilians.

• I love this church and this gospel.

• OH I REMEMBERED A STORY! Me and my companion almost got run over on the highway at night because he tripped over and dropped his Nokia brick. Me being stupid stopped to grab it. We left the ordeal alive but it was a silly move regardless. I should have left the Nokia there, that phone would have probably survived being run over by multiple trucks. Mum and dad, it won't happen again. *waits for an overseas telling-off*

That's all I have time for although I could write for days. Congratulations to the 3 people who read to the end of this, you deserve a cookie.

I cannot believe that Eddie is leaving so soon to the MTC. I love you bro, best of luck. Enjoy every second, it will FLY past!!

LOVE YOU ALL!

To my family, I talk about you every single day without fail, you're the best!!

BYEEEE!!!!