Parque Universitário 28-4-2014

Hello everyone! Yep, I stayed here in Antônio Bezerra and Elder Damásio went off to Ala Cidade Oeste (West City Ward) in Litoral stake. I passed in the neighboring area long ago, remember Boatan? Its been a year since I was there, how strange!

Trunky update: I can almost count the weeks on my hands! This transfer is only 5 weeks, and the next is regular 6.

I have some important news! Elder Savaryn and Elder Tamanho were made Zone Leaders today, and Elder Tenney is now a District leader! My kids and companions are all growing up...

My current companion is Elder Lessa, from the São Paulo state as well as São Paulo the capital city. He lives in the South Zone, and is the only member of his family who is a member of the church. Elder Benitez stayed a night in the same house, (the Zone leaders live in 4 with them) and had some really favorable remarks about him. Im pretty excited to be working with him.

More big news! We can use skype on Mothers day Sunday this time!!!! But we have to do it in the chapel on the computer, and that means using someone elses internet. >.> I will have more details later as to what time and stuff later. :)

Elder Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve is coming to Fortaleza on May 19th! And we get to participate! Its going to be so awesome, and they are doing a combined Fortaleza and Fortaleza east missions!

Dad, I think Im okay with missing my first day of class. The assignments are usually light on that day. Im honestly a bit relieved that it isnt Mr Platt. Hes a good person and really smart, but his teaching technique is a bit confusing. Thanks for your efforts in getting my schedule together, its good to stay out of trouble. Im okay with not working during the semester, cause Jordan will probably want me back at Top Job asap.

My name appears on my passport is that same spelling, but in all caps. Id like to spend most of the time seeing the places that I couldnt before. Be sure to include some time to browse the downtown, cause the girls are going to love shopping.

Mom, my package did arrive! without a ransom note too! :) Im going to pick it up today, and we shall feast! :) I dont have any requests for the last one, cause I will be coming home very shortly after. I think I can stand two weeks. :)

We are having quite a bit of rain that I forgot to mention in the last 4 weeks. Just about every day it rains for a bit, but usually stops before we go and work. I think the rain has missed only 3 or 4 days. It seems a bit cooler, but its extremely humid and stuffy. :) Oh yeah, the best!

There isnt a Walmart in Fortaleza, but there is a Sams Club that I think I talked about. Its in the other mission, so we cant go. :(

I got to see Frozen all the way through and it was AWESOME!!! And today we watched Turbo, which was cool. It got my blood racing a bit (no pun intended) but the engine layout when he gets zapped by the NOS is grossly inaccurate. :D

Well, I gotta get this sent off! Thanks everyone for your support, kindness, and best wishes! Im just around the corner!
Com amor,

~Elder Wille

Parque Universitário 21-4-2014

Oi família! como vocês estão??

tenho vontade de escrever em português, mas acho que vou trocar de línguas umas vezes.

Nós tivemos mais notícias esta vez! Uma irmã pediu uma bênção de saúde, e foi muito especial. As coisas para falar vieram tão claro na minha mente, e apesar de ela ser mulher, ela nos abraçou depois. Foi muito especial, e depois nós demos uma bênção em outro irmão.

Estamos conquistando a confiança dos membros numa ala que também tem problemas de gostar de Élderes. Pouco a pouco, um por um, as pessoas estão confiando em nós quatro.

I watched the first part of Frozen last week, but we had to leave early. We got everything ready this time, and today Im going to watch the whole thing! Im super stoked, cause I absolutely LOVED the part that I saw! The duet with Ana and Elsa in the Ice Castle was absolutely beautiful! And we ended right around the giant snow monster. I repeat, Im super stoked!!!

Dad, thanks for your input and counsel. If its meant to happen, it will happen. Ive written a letter to at least break the ice and gain a new friend, no harm in that. :) thanks again!

That photography class sounds awesome! Ive been seriously considering selling some of my stuff that I dont use, and buying an SLR camera. An Elder here has one, and I used it a bit, plus Teri has one and makes a small portion off of it. I thought about maybe doing the same thing, and a photography class would be really fun! (I enjoyed the one in High school)

Mom, did you know that they have nutella here? :O yup! They even have a Walmart in Curitiba! Elder Damásio almost dies when he sees american food. Im sure that President and Sister Souza will love whatever you send to them. I dont know their plans during conference, I just know that they are going to the October sessions.

And I made an error about Goianean cheese. Its the best in Brasil, not the world. Sorry about that!

Brownies, I think I can wait a month or two. I also have a recipe here in the star wars cookbook. :)

About Mr. Platt, he was my math teacher last year. Im just curious if its him again, cause he teaches Calc 1 and 2.

Palhaçada is a clown act, the goofs that they do.

Well, I gotta close this letter! Hope everything is well with you guys! Have a great day!

~Elder Wille

Ipanema 14-4-2014

Hello family! How is everyone doing?

Trunky update. Give or take an hour or two, I will be boarding the plane in exactly 3 months from now. :S Its all ending! Yet there is still a lot to be done, and a good amount of time to do it.

This week we baptized Francisco! Hes 63 years old, and I had to do it twice, but thats okay! I know numbers arent what count, but I think have 29 or 30 baptisms total. Its a bit low for Fortaleza average, but I dont mind in the slightest. My mission here isnt being a batizador, and Im fine with that.

Okay, so I really dont have news again. The area is just kind of slow, we are reduced to knocking doors and taking heat from our Zone leaders. We are working hard, but our numbers dont show it. We are going to try and unite the members and get them excited about the gospel in general. (at least sacrament meeting is VERY quiet. :D)

The fad on the mission right now is tons of short lessons. A few companhionships are getting over 50 lessons a week, but with very few results. Im sad, cause this is number work, and they are always getting after me because I dont teach like that. Oh well, I just have to do what is right, and keep on working.

Mom, President and Sister Souza are leaving the last week of June, and they will be at the conference center in October. :) How cool is that?

Im so glad that you liked the music that I sent. I was just going to recommend it off-handedly, but then I felt that you would need it. :) And I dont know the translation of palhaçada yet, sorry! Im forgetting english again. :/

Dad, I would like to keep my scholarship. If I need more hours, I think I will take Intro to Engineering. I know its kind of unnecessary, but a few friends last year took it and liked it a lot. (Maybe its just because they play with those high-tech legos that I have...) In the afternoon once a week sounds better for me.

From my experience, Im much more interested in the physics stuff than chemistry or biology. My biggest thing is that from my experience at fold3 I want to be more involved in hands-on stuff, and less at a desk. I know that desk work is going to be part of it, I just dont want that to be the major thing most of the time. And that maybe wont be sufficient to keep the scholarship. I do want to keep it unless its majorly out of my way. Thank you so much for the time you are taking to help me out with this, I really appreciate it!

Is there a light culinary course that I could use to bump up my credits? Or maybe a music class? It may not be conducive to my rigorous major, or I could focus more on study now and work during the summer and during fall semester. Just some ideas.

Is my math teachers name Mr. Platt by chance?

Ah, sorry its another short email. :( Really, there isnt a whole lot happening. Our Joseph Smith lady is lying to avoid us. D: but the work goes on. Shall we not go on in so great a cause?

Com amor,

~Elder Wille

Ipanema 7-4-2014

Dear family,

This week was crazy, but also kind of slow. Weve been knocking doors in a more inspired way than just randomly, but so far its only slightly improved. We are going to work with the members more closely to help us, cause up to now we havent recieved any referrals. President Souza recommends to not exert ourselves in the group, because its not a great division, and its really far away for us. So we are working with Elder dos Santos and Elder Parkhurst. (from Taubaté, São Paulo and Oxford, Alabama respectively. E Parkhurst is the other elder in the foto with conference)

We succeeded in finding a complete family though! The lady is like a modern day Joseph Smith! She had all the same questions, same doubts, etc etc etc! Sadly she couldnt go to conference, so we are going to pass by today. She is most likely an elect of the Lord, I can feel it. I just hope that she holds to the promptings of the Spirit.

We have a baptism lined up for this week! He is an investigator from the Parque Universitário area, was being taught by the elders before us, and his name is Francisco José de Souza. Hes 63, and has quite a few worries. His wife died 4 months ago, and his financial situation isnt the best, but he is using  his faith that the gospel is the best path he can take.

Elder Damásio and I are doing well. He went with me to the hospital when i was sick. I apparently had an intestinal infection, and for that reason I couldnt consume dairy products. :/ and all the good stuff has milk or cheese in it, but Im better now! Completely backto normal.:)

Oh, back to Elder Damásio, he is really cool, and even though everybody says it, he is really funny. I think his favorite phrase (boa sorte esse ph, F é melhor :D) is que palhaçada é essa?

He loves and misses good cheese. The best cheese is made not in Wisconsin, but in Goiania, where he was born. :) Here, the cheese is pretty low quality, so nobody get some hopes up.

Okay, so he is the youngest missionary here or something, cause he turned 18 and then left the next month on the mission. Hes a really good friend, is dedicated, and is in love with Christina Aguilara.

Conference was really good! The intervals were killer though, cause we had to stay at the Parquelândia stake center. We didnt want to go home, only to turn around and ride the bus back. I learned and practiced more piano! After less than 48 total hours of pracitce, I can play a few hymns! (just melody on the right hand and chords on the left hand) but I can make it sound pretty good! :) Dad, I think you will be very impressed. Its really basic, but considering that I learned basically everything here, its a good start. I missed you a ton. In light of Elder Eyrings talk, I just wanted you to know that you are my hero! :)

Dad, Elder Damásio wanted me to send you a link to a site (in portuguese) that combines flights with hotels. Its another option to look at, so here it is. www.decolar.com (decolar means to take off)

And for anyone who is interested, I have developed a great love for church music. Mom and Dad, I encourage you to take a look (listen?) to the CD Tribute to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Its so uplifting and brings an incredible spirit! Also the EFY cd Courage to Stand Strong has a few songs that I absolutely love, and one from EFY 1999 called Perfect Love. Please especially listen to this last one Mom, I think you will like it a lot, and I get the feeling that the message it has will help you. I dont know in what, but I think it really will help.

I also found a quote that was really cool. While we try to see where the gospel fits in our lives, only Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know how to fit our lives into the Gospel.

Mom, especially for you, I dont know how it went exactly, but its in the March Liahona/ensign on the inside cover. Motherhood is not a hobby, its not something we do if we have time to squeeze it in, but it is our calling, our privelege to care for Heavenly Fathers children. I thought especially of you when I saw this, I remembered your actions living this principle when you could have chosen to do something else to use your time. I know I added to the quote, but thats what I need to say.

Dad or mom, could you send me an attatched picture of Delicate Arch? Id like to draw it somewhere on my last few planners.

Dad, I did pass the AP Calc test, and took Calc 1 at snow. Which class is math 1210?

Well, my fingers are about falling off! :) jk, but time to end this beast. Hope you all like the music! I will write next week!

~Elder Wille

P.S. Did I write enough this time? I know there isnt a lot about the work, sorry about that. Theres just not a whole lot of action like my last areas.

And Mom, Ive been curious for a bit, and the video refereshed my curiosity. What did the priesthood blessing say when you were pregnant with me, from what you remember?

Parque Universitário - Ipanema 31-3-2014

Hello family and friends from all parts of the world!

Today it rained while we are writing, and it was kinda strong too, I got a bit worried that we would have to ride a rainy bus, but its okay.

Wow, lots has happened in the week. As some of you know, I got pretty sick. (surprise mom!) After almost exactly a year, I went to ye olde´ hospital again! three liters of soro! and the line got pinched in the hospital recliner, so the needle punctured the other wall of my vein and made a bubble of liquid next to my elbow. :D that was interesting. So I got a fever of 101.7F ish, and the next day it got up to 38.8C. (someone do the math for me?) Im okay now, the fever went away, Im working normally, just cant eat anything that has leite (milk) or milk products (cheese, butter, etc) for a week. And almost everything down here has powdered milk!!! >:(

My area really is two streets. And talking about that, its so small that I think President Souza is going to close it. :( but I dont believe it was because of my work, nor the 'demotion.' I figured I was rebaixado to let the rising generation get some experience. 80% of the mission has less than a year in the field. It is a bit weird, cause I was used to Elder Tenney and Elder Benitez, both a bit quiet with regards to planning and stuff, and now Im the first counselor, not the final decision maker. Not that its a bad thing, its just kind of weird not having the control of everything that goes on. It is a nice bit of a break.

Mom and Dad, I just want to say that the movie that Pablo put together was super special for me. :) It was a very huge and welcome surprise! thank you so very much for taking so much time with Pablo to put it together! Pablo prayed to be inspired on what to write, and he hit the nail on the head. What a stellar job! You guys have to see it sometime, Ive asked him how he can do that. I absolutely loved it!!!

Some less reverent comments:

I didnt know I was so fluffy when I was a kid! And I can see why the girls thought I was nerdy. :P hahaha.

Dad, you have changed so much! I didnt know you were just skin and bones when we were kids. All the yardwork and stuff has put some more meat on you. :) But no matter what, I miss you more than words can describe, and conference vai ser muito lonely, those Priesthood session dinners together are some of my fondest memories. Logo voltaremos a jantar novamente. :) Thank you for those stories about the missionaries, it helps me raise my vision a bit to more possibilities, even though it probably wont be a duplicate of these stories. I am having a tiny bit of difficuly in keeping motivated, do you have any suggestions?

I didnt see a lot of Mom in the pictures, just the clip at the end, but I have to say that in these short months, you too have changed a bit. And not just more tan. ;) but since I left, you have become more... Im not good at lots of words, but Id have to say you look even more majestic and graceful. Ive missed you a ton as well. Im sorry my picture makes you cry so you cant put it up. Im doing well. :) Yes, I did get those pictures and thought they were awesome! But not that skeelee ate my part... :( hahaha! Did you by chance put those in the package too, or did they arrive after? I completely forgot until just now. Dont worry if they didnt go in, it was just a curiosity.

Ah dang. Time ran out again. :( Love you all, see you soon!

~Elder Wille

P.S. Dad, that schedule looks just grand! Im okay with a class or two in the afternoon, I just didnt want the whole block to be there, especially cause Brazilians have a tendency to nod off after lunch. :)

P.S.S. Jordan Brown got called to Frankfurt Germany! she leaves July 30.

Grupo Parque Universitário de Ala Ipanema 24-3-2014

Okay, phew! Here we go! Some very different news about my new area! Mom, you are especially going to like this. Put on your seatbelts everyone!

My area is absolutely GIGANTIC! Its about 4 streets... >.> two are about 400 yards in length, one is a ways away in Bela Vista, and the other is a city block. In one day, we probably walked around the first two streets five or six times each day. We havent been to Bela Vista yet, but it sounds like its not much.

Mom, close your eyes for this part. My area is pretty much the literal definition of Favela. Since we are opening the area, almost nobody has seen (much less knows) the missionaries. They all stare as we walk past, and I feel especially unwelcome cause we pass by five or six times each day. I want to plan an activity to formally announce the church in a more favorable light, and Elder Damásio is going to give public piano lessons. :)

Did you understand the letter all right? :) even though it died in translation?

Dad, I did hit a bit of the slumps. When I got to Monese, after bom jardim, that was my most difficult area to stay motivated. but Elder Bramwell revived my fire, so Im good now. :)

Elder Damásio likes to mess around and kid a lot. Its good that he stays happy. The good thing is that we are almost never bored. :)

Man, I did not budget (yes mom, budget!) my time very well. Im terribly sorry! next week will be a much beter letter! Know that I love you all!

~Elder Wille

Parque Universitário 17-3-2014 (in English -- sort of)

Hey family! Me , Elder Wille ! I was transferred , yes , and we are opening a group ! Me and my new companion Elder Damasio of Curitiba . He has three months into his mission , and I am the third mate him . All transfers he had a new companion .

So , we are opening a brand new area , never had a double itself. We're starting from zero. Have had work here as part of another area ( as I helped Paracuru and Pecém and Itapipoca ) but now I'm officially opening University Park . It has about 10 members who attend , and will be interesting.

Elder Benitez stood at Benfica , and was too afraid to become district leader , but he is still junior .

So Pablo actually went with us to transfer the meeting to ask President if he Could visit Elder Tenney , and got the no. Elder Tenney is still contagious , but maybe the news changed . They conversed right in front of me .

Mom , could you tell me how much volume has a can of cream of mushroom soup ? And overcame his fear of the pressure cooker ? Yay !

E. .... CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOU ! WANTED THIS DATE !

MANY CONGRATULATIONS , MANY YEARS OF LIFE !

CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOU ! WANTED THIS DATE !

MANY CONGRATULATIONS , MANY YEARS OF LIFE !

Mom , I hope tomorrow will be a wonderful and fruitful day to fulfill their goals and dreams ! I do not want other land you parents! Many thanks for being the best parents to me !

Santa , but was a little worried , but when Pablo said that the doctor spoke of taking medicine and getting rest , ( and that was making Snowboarder racquetball and then I knew the order ) I stopped worrying .

Here in Fortaleza , is not very famous upscale barbecue. Rio Grande do Sul ( gauchos ) is famous for its barbecue . Tucanos is much better than Fortaleza , they do not have swords as toucans here! They have espeitinho , a piece of wood that they use for roasting meat . Are type one, only thicker shish kabob . A real two each 150g of meat. And use almost anything to hold the charcoal , until the rim car wheel ! :)

Damn , time is running out . Excuse me if I have not written for someone ! Love you, God be with you and pamper you !

~ Elder Wille