First Week in the Field!! - Justinopolis, Brazil

hey everybody!! first off, i love you all so much! i hope you all know that!

anyway... what a crazy crazy week!! i'm so happy that the mission is living up to everything i ever thought it would be. i love the area. it's funny because when i think back to how i thought my mission would look like and be, it was exactly like this. as far as the area goes, it is very awesome! there are some crazy crazy hills and some awesome jungle like mountains! it's gorgeous... if this computer will let me i brought my camera cord and i will try to attach some pics to another email.

anyway, an awesome first week! the food here is actually very good. we really only eat one meal a day and it's only because when we have lunch with members, we eat enough for all three meals. i don't ever find myself hungry! this week i had feijoada... i wouldn't recommend making this one mom. it's pretty much just beans and rice but then the meat is just everything from a pig you wouldn't normally eat. it's pretty much straight fat and bones. on my particular plate i had a nose and an ear staring me in the face! crazy! not my favorite but yes i did eat it all! brazilians do have some interesting food. yesterday we had some brazilian kind of pudding cake thing that was weird. main ingredient... barely mushed up corn. yum yum! hahaha! it was alright but again not my favorite! the best thing i had this week that i can't believe i have missed out on for 19 years is certain flavors of ice cream. i feel bad for telling you what you are missing out on but someday you will have it! i had lime, açai, and maracuja (passion fruit) ice cream and it was heavenly especially after walking up and down hills all day in the heat! the weather is awesome though - i love it. i'm already getting a good good tan and because of the humidity my face is so baby smooth! it's awesome!

this week we got a weird phone call saying we needed to get out of our apartment because i guess the previous elders hadn't paid rent and so the owner wanted us out so we are still living there but finding another apartment, which will be less work time which kinda stinks!

i love the work here. a typical day is like this... as all missionaries do, we wake up at 630 and work out for a half hour. i usually do some sit-ups and push-ups and pull-ups on my bed underneath the other bunk bed for a bar. we get ready and then we have study time from 800 to 1000. 800 to 900 is personal study and 900 to 1000 is comp study where we practice teaching to whoever we can find. for example this week we taught hannah montana. my comp got a card that sings that is huge and her face is on the cover so we baptized hannah montana this week! =) that was fun! haha. after that we get to work. we go visit the families we marked with and on the way we contact people on the street - oh and yes all of this is in another language! =) anyway we usually teach about 15 lessons a day to investigators and members alike. we have lunch in there at about 1200 and teach a lesson there. the system and rules here for the mission are an investigator has to go to church twice and receive all the lessons and keep all the commitments from those lessons before baptism. this sunday we had two baptisms and we have 2 marked for this sunday as well - all they have left to do is receive interviews. it's amazing seeing the change in peoples lives. we have one couple right now who is not married but have lived together for 15or 20 years and so in order to get baptized they have to get married first. talk about commitment to a belief! they are doing it though. they are scheduled to baptize on april 11! awesome! we have about 10 people as of now marked for conference weekend as well! the work here is whatever you make out of it. if you commit yourself to it then heavenly father will bless you with success! we work very hard! we walk about 15 miles a day, teach 15 lessons and somehow find time to sleep! =) we are back to our apartment by 2100 and plan until 2130 and then we have time to write in our journal and shower and get ready for tomorrow! it's a crazy busy schedule but honestly it goes by very fast! i love it here!

sunday we have a bus that takes people to church because the nearest chapel is 20 miles away as of right now and this bus has 18 seats... this sunday we fit 32 people in there just to go to church! the people here sacrifice so much for what they believe in! they teach me so much! i love them! i have learned so much! so much!

we teach in favelas often. favelas are the ghetto i guess in english but ghettos have nothing on favelas. a house in a favela consists of a dirt floor with all the brazilian animals you can imagine and they typically have two rooms... both about the size of cassi's closet. one for a kitchen and one with as big a bed as possible so all ten people in the family can sleep! it is so crazy and so so so so sad! but i have learned more in those houses than in an entire mtc stay!! i have learned so so much! the people there are so receptive to the gospel. they love the missionaries. they feed us every time we walk in the door. they give us water and whatever crackers they have and you can't say no even though you know they need it so badly! i have gotten to see the change this gospel can make in peoples lives and i know better now, than i think i ever have, the power and truthfulness this gospel carries! i am so so privileged to teach people what can truly make them eternally happy! they have nothing and everything all at once! it's amazing the courage of such people! in one little corner of the favela we frequently teach at, there are about 20 houses or so and about 15 of them are now members and we call it the celestial kingdom of the favela! its amazing the happiness that resides there all because of their faith in christ! what a lesson to learn that after we show our faith in him and his church and his gospel we are so abundantly blessed. maybe not with houses or cars or toys because those aren't important... they are blessed with strong families and happiness! what else could be better then a happy family!

anyway i love you all so much!! you are the best family in the world and i have the best support team ever! i love you all with all my heart! stay strong and i look forward to next wednesday!! =)