That´s how many days I have left here at the CTM!
I´m trying to count them down because I really do want to enjoy my remaining time here because I only have the opportunity to be here once. And it´s such a unique opportunity too! But if I were to say I wasn´t excited to head out to the field, that would be a lie. A big, big lie.
The population here as jumped, no -leaped- to almost 300 missionaries! Visas came into the Provo MTC by the boatloads apparently, because 4 out of the 7 days last week, American missionaries were showing up; Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It usually around 20 missionaries too! I hear some more missionaries came in today too. 30 some odd Brazilian missionaries are coming in on Thursday too! There´s going to be a few missionaries going to Teresina because today is exactly 3 weeks before transfers, and they stay for just under 3 weeks.
Today we were able to go to the Campinas Temple. It´s about an hour and half away from here. I really liked it! The view was awesome. I´m 90% sure that we could see Sao Paulo because the Temple sat up on a hill. But... then again you can never be too sure because Sao Paulo is so huge, I can´t tell where it starts and where it begin.
On Friday we go proselyting for the second and last time. This time though, we drive into downtown Sao Paulo and proselyte there. It´s much better there. My branch president taught us some great techniques for street contacts. I hope to apply what I´ve learned!
I´ve been studying a lot on humility this past week. It´s amazing to see what I can learn when I´m diligently studying the scriptures. I learned some wonderful things that will help me stay humble. I took a break from the New Testament when I studied humility, but now I´m returning to it. I love reading it and then putting it into perspective of the history at the time. I´m sure I´ve learned about it before but it never really sunk in that the Savior´s earthly ministry was only 3 years, but the apostles labored roughly 30ish years after that to maintain the church! Despite intense persecution of the early Christian church, it´s such a testament to their efforts that Christianity was able to take root like it did.
My instructor in the morning went to Belem on his mission. At that time Teresina didn´t exist and Belem included half of what the Teresina mission is today. Fortaleza had the other half. He never served in the state of Piaui which is half of Teresina, but he did serve in the state of Maranhao which is the other half of Teresina. I was able to talk with him a lot this week about it and I´ve become even more excited!
My time is short this week. I have one more chance to email here at the MTC, then I´ll be in Teresina!
Love,
Elder Rackham
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Things are heating up!!
In more ways than one!
First, the weather here in Sao Paulo has gotten hotter. Sleeping at night hasn´t always been the most fun. I thought I was getting used to the heat but it turns out that it´s been abnormally cool for the summer here so far.
Second, I jumped the gun and just assumed that I would be staying for a total of 11 weeks because I came 2 weeks early. Paulo, the person who is in charge of most of the logistics for the missionaries like travel dates, who´s in what district, etc talked to our district. We´re all leaving after we´ve had a total of 9 weeks. For 3 Elders that falls on their normal transfer dates for their missions. For the rest of us, we´re all leaving on February 26th. Yeah, on my birthday! The reason we´re leaving on a Friday and not a Tuesday like we´re supposed to is because there´s a seminar for Mission Presidents on the Tuesday we would be leaving, I think it´s March 2. So... we´re leaving on a Friday instead! I´ll be just over two weeks early for transfers. I´m assuming I´ll be put in a companionship of 3 elders temporarily. We´ll have to see. That puts me at just over 2 weeks left here! I thought I had more time with the language, so I´m going to have to kick it into high gear to meet my goal of being fluent in the lessons when I leave.
Last Friday, we went proselyting. Elder Knapp and I were given 4 Books of Mormon to place. We had to stay within our normal boundaries that we have during our P-Day adventures. It was such a wonderful experience! Except for getting a bit sunburned. I was only outside for 3 hours! I guess that´s plenty of time to get sunburned here. The first person that we talked to was kind of interested in a book so he accepted one when we asked if he wanted one. The second person we talked to was great. His brother-in-law lived in Salt Lake City for a while, I don´t know if he was a member or not, but he knew about us. He said he didn´t have a lot of time because he worked a lot but we assured him that it´s okay to just read a little bit here and there when he has time. Elder Knapp and I were able to bear our testimonies and he wanted a copy too. We walked around a bit more and ended up at a bus stop. We talked to a lady and we caught that she said "all words about God are good" or something like that. Unfortunately we couldn´t finish our conversation because her bus pulled up but we were able to get a book into her hands as she ran to catch the bus. The 4th person was an amazing experience. The Lord really has prepared people to hear the gospel. Elder Knapp and I walked around a bit more but decided to go back to the bus stop and talk to people while they waited for the bus. There were 3 people there when we came back. I didn´t really notice, but as we were talking with the two of them, Elder Knapp saw the other lady look over at us and move closer to us so she could hear what we were saying. We finally were able to talk to her. She was so desperately interested. We couldn´t catch everything she was saying, but she said "There´s something different about you. You´re not like the others who preach around here." I felt so good about giving her a Book of Mormon. We had more time after that so we went back and got 2 more copies. An older man was interested but here in Brazil, people sometimes think that they have to pay for a copy but we assured him it was a present and when he was holding it, he was holding it to his chest like you would something really precious. It was really neat! Apparently the area around the MTC is a tough area. People are used to us missionaries coming around with Books of Mormon so they aren´t as receptive as the rest of Sao Paulo, but we shocked a few people when we our whole district placed a total of 26!
Speaking of district, my district has gotten even larger. Originally there were 8 of us, then 2 more Elders who were in the Provo MTC got their visas and joined our district. Well on Saturday, 3 more came from Provo! We´re up to 13 Elders! Elder Bostrom was one of the 2 Elders that came first, and the other 3 were in his old district in Provo! Funny story about Elder Bostrom, he was talking about how in his family it´s tradition to name the firstborn of the firstborn Thor Bostrom. I remembered a guy named Thor that was in my ward at BYU-I my winter semester so of course I asked Elder Bostrom and that was his brother! It´s such a small world here in Brazil. I never would have thought so. I have a connection like that to almost every Elder in my district so far it´s weird but cool!
I´ve been reading the New Testament for my personal study and I´ve made it through Matthew. I´ve surprised myself because after personal study is over I don´t want to stop reading! I just love reading about Christ´s earthly ministry. I want to know more and more! There´s just not enough time to read though. I´m starting to truly love reading the scriptures for probably the first time in my life.
That´s about it for now. It´s been a great week, again! And next week is going to be even better as President Brinton, my branch president, says.
With love,
Elder Rackham
P.S. Does anyone know of a Larry and Jaydean Rackham that lives in Boise? I´m assuming I´m probably related somehow. I ask because one of the other branch presidents and his wife are friends with them. have thought so. I have a connection like that to almost every Elder in my district so far it´s weird but cool!
I´ve been reading the New Testament for my personal study and I´ve made it through Matthew. I´ve surprised myself because after personal study is over I don´t want to stop reading! I just love reading about Christ.
First, the weather here in Sao Paulo has gotten hotter. Sleeping at night hasn´t always been the most fun. I thought I was getting used to the heat but it turns out that it´s been abnormally cool for the summer here so far.
Second, I jumped the gun and just assumed that I would be staying for a total of 11 weeks because I came 2 weeks early. Paulo, the person who is in charge of most of the logistics for the missionaries like travel dates, who´s in what district, etc talked to our district. We´re all leaving after we´ve had a total of 9 weeks. For 3 Elders that falls on their normal transfer dates for their missions. For the rest of us, we´re all leaving on February 26th. Yeah, on my birthday! The reason we´re leaving on a Friday and not a Tuesday like we´re supposed to is because there´s a seminar for Mission Presidents on the Tuesday we would be leaving, I think it´s March 2. So... we´re leaving on a Friday instead! I´ll be just over two weeks early for transfers. I´m assuming I´ll be put in a companionship of 3 elders temporarily. We´ll have to see. That puts me at just over 2 weeks left here! I thought I had more time with the language, so I´m going to have to kick it into high gear to meet my goal of being fluent in the lessons when I leave.
Last Friday, we went proselyting. Elder Knapp and I were given 4 Books of Mormon to place. We had to stay within our normal boundaries that we have during our P-Day adventures. It was such a wonderful experience! Except for getting a bit sunburned. I was only outside for 3 hours! I guess that´s plenty of time to get sunburned here. The first person that we talked to was kind of interested in a book so he accepted one when we asked if he wanted one. The second person we talked to was great. His brother-in-law lived in Salt Lake City for a while, I don´t know if he was a member or not, but he knew about us. He said he didn´t have a lot of time because he worked a lot but we assured him that it´s okay to just read a little bit here and there when he has time. Elder Knapp and I were able to bear our testimonies and he wanted a copy too. We walked around a bit more and ended up at a bus stop. We talked to a lady and we caught that she said "all words about God are good" or something like that. Unfortunately we couldn´t finish our conversation because her bus pulled up but we were able to get a book into her hands as she ran to catch the bus. The 4th person was an amazing experience. The Lord really has prepared people to hear the gospel. Elder Knapp and I walked around a bit more but decided to go back to the bus stop and talk to people while they waited for the bus. There were 3 people there when we came back. I didn´t really notice, but as we were talking with the two of them, Elder Knapp saw the other lady look over at us and move closer to us so she could hear what we were saying. We finally were able to talk to her. She was so desperately interested. We couldn´t catch everything she was saying, but she said "There´s something different about you. You´re not like the others who preach around here." I felt so good about giving her a Book of Mormon. We had more time after that so we went back and got 2 more copies. An older man was interested but here in Brazil, people sometimes think that they have to pay for a copy but we assured him it was a present and when he was holding it, he was holding it to his chest like you would something really precious. It was really neat! Apparently the area around the MTC is a tough area. People are used to us missionaries coming around with Books of Mormon so they aren´t as receptive as the rest of Sao Paulo, but we shocked a few people when we our whole district placed a total of 26!
Speaking of district, my district has gotten even larger. Originally there were 8 of us, then 2 more Elders who were in the Provo MTC got their visas and joined our district. Well on Saturday, 3 more came from Provo! We´re up to 13 Elders! Elder Bostrom was one of the 2 Elders that came first, and the other 3 were in his old district in Provo! Funny story about Elder Bostrom, he was talking about how in his family it´s tradition to name the firstborn of the firstborn Thor Bostrom. I remembered a guy named Thor that was in my ward at BYU-I my winter semester so of course I asked Elder Bostrom and that was his brother! It´s such a small world here in Brazil. I never would have thought so. I have a connection like that to almost every Elder in my district so far it´s weird but cool!
I´ve been reading the New Testament for my personal study and I´ve made it through Matthew. I´ve surprised myself because after personal study is over I don´t want to stop reading! I just love reading about Christ´s earthly ministry. I want to know more and more! There´s just not enough time to read though. I´m starting to truly love reading the scriptures for probably the first time in my life.
That´s about it for now. It´s been a great week, again! And next week is going to be even better as President Brinton, my branch president, says.
With love,
Elder Rackham
P.S. Does anyone know of a Larry and Jaydean Rackham that lives in Boise? I´m assuming I´m probably related somehow. I ask because one of the other branch presidents and his wife are friends with them. have thought so. I have a connection like that to almost every Elder in my district so far it´s weird but cool!
I´ve been reading the New Testament for my personal study and I´ve made it through Matthew. I´ve surprised myself because after personal study is over I don´t want to stop reading! I just love reading about Christ.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Yet Another...
Bom Dia everyone!
Bom Dia (pronounced Bone Jeeuh) means good day! Anyway as the subject says, my forearms hurt a bit so this email may not be quite as long. The keyboard is not very good here unfortunately. Also I don´t have as long today because one the way back from the Temple we went in every direction BUT back to the MTC! Seriously it was not fun. Plus it was hot since the AC didn´t work but that actually wasn´t too bad. I was even wearing my suit coat the entire ride home! I´m surprised at how well I´ve adjusted to the weather here. I don´t think I´ll have a problem with the heat in Teresina. Oh by the way, half of my mission is arid and dry. No humidity! Woo! I am a big fan of that. I can deal with heat easier if I´m not swimming in my own sweat.
An update on my attempt to lead a choir: I must say I´m pretty talented. I didn´t expect it to turn out so well. To be honest though it was mostly the choir and not me. They sang so beautifully. We sang Abide With Me ´Tis Eventide. I kinda got into it as the conductor. I used both hands I guess the other missionaries who conduct don´t and I was a bit expressive with them haha. Anyway, I was very pleased with how it turned out. I was scared at first because I didn´t really know how to run the 1 hour practice. It went well though and the fireside was amazing. Elder Soaris spoke. He´s an area seventy I think. Anyway it was wonderful!
Class is going much better. We´re more focused during class and we speak more portuguese during class as well! In fact if we try our hardest to speak portuguese for the rest of the week, our two instructors are going to make t-shirts for us! I really like my morning instructor Irmao Nascimento. He was a great missionary I can tell. He teaches us really practical things and techniques. The evening class is hard because we´re tired and unfocused. But last night we did much, much better!
Can I just say that I have probably the best district? I´m most missionaries think this, but we really are the best! Almost all of the instructors love us! And I think the ones that aren´t included in that statement haven´t met and talked with us.
I love my Branch President. He´s taught me so much! Sundays are so wonderful! But I especially love his wife, Sister Brinton. She´s so wonderful! I can feel her love for us and her love for the Lord. If President Dias' wife (my mission president when I get to the mission field in Teresina) is half as awesome as Sister Brinton I will have a truly great Mission President´s wife. But I have a feeling that Sister Dias will be really, really awesome! Irma Fiallo one of the teachers here told me that President Dias is AMAZING. He used to do something with CES (Church Education System) in Brazil and he was just really awesome. I´m so excited to meet him!
Did I mention last week that our room of 4 Elders became a room of 6 Elders? They added 2 brazilian Elders to our room. I´m starting to talk with them more and they´re alot of fun. They´re both going to Manaus.
New Brazilian missionaries come to the MTC on Thursdays. Last thursday 48 new missionaries came! The MTC feels so packed now even though there´s only about 75 missionaries total haha. I think it´s just because we have to actually wait in line for food now. We used to walk right up to the serving area and be served right away.
Oh my favorite fruit here is Goiaba. I think that´s the spelling. It´s guava unless I´m horribly mistaken. All you need to know is that it´s absolutely delicious. I hope I´ll be able to buy them in Teresina. I imagine that I will be able to. But who knows!
My studying is becoming more meaningful and I´m growing and progressing. I can´t even imagine what it will be like when I get to the mission field! It´s amazing to look back at these past 5 weeks and see the Lord´s hand in my life. And it´s a little weird to realize it´s been 5 weeks! It seems such a short time ago that I got here, but at the same time it feels like forever! I do enjoy the MTC. It´s such a unique opportunity that I hope I´m taking advantage of.
Until next time!
Love,
Elder Rackham
Bom Dia (pronounced Bone Jeeuh) means good day! Anyway as the subject says, my forearms hurt a bit so this email may not be quite as long. The keyboard is not very good here unfortunately. Also I don´t have as long today because one the way back from the Temple we went in every direction BUT back to the MTC! Seriously it was not fun. Plus it was hot since the AC didn´t work but that actually wasn´t too bad. I was even wearing my suit coat the entire ride home! I´m surprised at how well I´ve adjusted to the weather here. I don´t think I´ll have a problem with the heat in Teresina. Oh by the way, half of my mission is arid and dry. No humidity! Woo! I am a big fan of that. I can deal with heat easier if I´m not swimming in my own sweat.
An update on my attempt to lead a choir: I must say I´m pretty talented. I didn´t expect it to turn out so well. To be honest though it was mostly the choir and not me. They sang so beautifully. We sang Abide With Me ´Tis Eventide. I kinda got into it as the conductor. I used both hands I guess the other missionaries who conduct don´t and I was a bit expressive with them haha. Anyway, I was very pleased with how it turned out. I was scared at first because I didn´t really know how to run the 1 hour practice. It went well though and the fireside was amazing. Elder Soaris spoke. He´s an area seventy I think. Anyway it was wonderful!
Class is going much better. We´re more focused during class and we speak more portuguese during class as well! In fact if we try our hardest to speak portuguese for the rest of the week, our two instructors are going to make t-shirts for us! I really like my morning instructor Irmao Nascimento. He was a great missionary I can tell. He teaches us really practical things and techniques. The evening class is hard because we´re tired and unfocused. But last night we did much, much better!
Can I just say that I have probably the best district? I´m most missionaries think this, but we really are the best! Almost all of the instructors love us! And I think the ones that aren´t included in that statement haven´t met and talked with us.
I love my Branch President. He´s taught me so much! Sundays are so wonderful! But I especially love his wife, Sister Brinton. She´s so wonderful! I can feel her love for us and her love for the Lord. If President Dias' wife (my mission president when I get to the mission field in Teresina) is half as awesome as Sister Brinton I will have a truly great Mission President´s wife. But I have a feeling that Sister Dias will be really, really awesome! Irma Fiallo one of the teachers here told me that President Dias is AMAZING. He used to do something with CES (Church Education System) in Brazil and he was just really awesome. I´m so excited to meet him!
Did I mention last week that our room of 4 Elders became a room of 6 Elders? They added 2 brazilian Elders to our room. I´m starting to talk with them more and they´re alot of fun. They´re both going to Manaus.
New Brazilian missionaries come to the MTC on Thursdays. Last thursday 48 new missionaries came! The MTC feels so packed now even though there´s only about 75 missionaries total haha. I think it´s just because we have to actually wait in line for food now. We used to walk right up to the serving area and be served right away.
Oh my favorite fruit here is Goiaba. I think that´s the spelling. It´s guava unless I´m horribly mistaken. All you need to know is that it´s absolutely delicious. I hope I´ll be able to buy them in Teresina. I imagine that I will be able to. But who knows!
My studying is becoming more meaningful and I´m growing and progressing. I can´t even imagine what it will be like when I get to the mission field! It´s amazing to look back at these past 5 weeks and see the Lord´s hand in my life. And it´s a little weird to realize it´s been 5 weeks! It seems such a short time ago that I got here, but at the same time it feels like forever! I do enjoy the MTC. It´s such a unique opportunity that I hope I´m taking advantage of.
Until next time!
Love,
Elder Rackham
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Latest from Sao Paulo
Hey all ya´ll!
You know, it bothers me that when they teach us Portuguese, they don´t distinguish to us you (singular) and you (plural) like Mrs. Camp did with all ya´ll. For instance, they´ll put a sentence on the board for us to translate into Portuguese: you are going to the store. A part of me breaks inside because I don´t know which you they mean! haha it´s just a really really minor inconvenience that I´m blowing way out of proportion in order to eke out a laugh or two from all ya´ll (see what I did there?). Or maybe it´s because I feel especially witty today! I cherish these moments because they are few and far between.
Now to the nitty gritty, this week went by so quick! Every Saturday, I write a letter to my Branch President telling him how my week went, my successes, anything I´m struggling with, concerns, etc. All of the missionaries here at the MTC are divided into Branches. The person who is in charge of the Branch is the Branch President. We meet on Sunday as a branch for Church meetings. So anyway, this Saturday I was writing the letter and I was like "Gosh it feels like I was writing a letter to President Brinton just yesterday!"
I mostly enjoyed my 32 hours and 15 minutes of class this past week. I can get through my morning block of class no problem, but the evening class is hard. We´re all tired so my district gets a little overactive and unfocused. But we learn, and that´s the important thing, I think.
My morning instructor, Irmao Nascimento, really helped us understand that we can be completely fluent by the time we leave the MTC. He gave us 4 rules that every missionary he´s taught that left the MTC fluent followed.
1. Be happy. You can´t learn if your sad and such.
2. Be obedient. If we´re not obeying the rules, we won´t be blessed with the Holy Spirit. I can testify that when I was obedient, my learning capabilities were increased tenfold then when I wasn´t obedient.
3.Participate in class. Ask questions about things, use the language in class, make mistakes. All of those things will help learn the language quickly.
4. Work hard. If I stretch myself every day to learn portuguese I´ll learn that much faster. There are days that I really push myself and I can literally feel myself grow in the language. It´s an amazing feeling.
My goal is to leave the MTC fluent. I think it´s possible. Irmao Nascimento has seen it happen. He´s had missionaries that can understand what he says even if he speaks fast, they understand when he makes jokes in portuguese. I am confident that if I apply those 4 rules, I will be able to be fluent.
I´ve been sleeping better. I´m not sure what it was. Of course I still sometimes get droopy in class but I think that´s more from sitting still for 4 hours straight than from how much I slept that previous night.
This past week or two, I´ve became friends with a few of the Brazilian missionaries that live in our hallway. The Brazilians only stay at the MTC for 19 days because they already speak portuguese. So today they left for their individual missions. I was sad to see a few of them go, because they were a lot of fun. Apparently I´ve married of Lysa and Stasi to two of them. I was showing them pictures of my family and they said "namorada!" and pointed to Lysa and Stasi. Namorada means girlfriend. Then they started calling me conhado which means brother-in-law. Hahaha, Lysa and Stasi you have 2 years to get away before they start coming after you!
On Tuesdays we have a devotional, and today I´m conducting the choir! I´m pretty excited! I decided that we´re going to sing Abide With Me, ´Tis Eventide. It´s a beautiful song. I just have to remember that a choir isn´t the same thing as a band, and I´ll be good to go! I hope I´ll do well, but it´s not like it´s the Mormon Tabernacle Choir or anything so I should be fine.
In 4 short weeks, I´ve already become more organized and focused! It´s not like that was hard though, considering my state of organization skills when I left. But out of everyone in my district,
You know, it bothers me that when they teach us Portuguese, they don´t distinguish to us you (singular) and you (plural) like Mrs. Camp did with all ya´ll. For instance, they´ll put a sentence on the board for us to translate into Portuguese: you are going to the store. A part of me breaks inside because I don´t know which you they mean! haha it´s just a really really minor inconvenience that I´m blowing way out of proportion in order to eke out a laugh or two from all ya´ll (see what I did there?). Or maybe it´s because I feel especially witty today! I cherish these moments because they are few and far between.
Now to the nitty gritty, this week went by so quick! Every Saturday, I write a letter to my Branch President telling him how my week went, my successes, anything I´m struggling with, concerns, etc. All of the missionaries here at the MTC are divided into Branches. The person who is in charge of the Branch is the Branch President. We meet on Sunday as a branch for Church meetings. So anyway, this Saturday I was writing the letter and I was like "Gosh it feels like I was writing a letter to President Brinton just yesterday!"
I mostly enjoyed my 32 hours and 15 minutes of class this past week. I can get through my morning block of class no problem, but the evening class is hard. We´re all tired so my district gets a little overactive and unfocused. But we learn, and that´s the important thing, I think.
My morning instructor, Irmao Nascimento, really helped us understand that we can be completely fluent by the time we leave the MTC. He gave us 4 rules that every missionary he´s taught that left the MTC fluent followed.
1. Be happy. You can´t learn if your sad and such.
2. Be obedient. If we´re not obeying the rules, we won´t be blessed with the Holy Spirit. I can testify that when I was obedient, my learning capabilities were increased tenfold then when I wasn´t obedient.
3.Participate in class. Ask questions about things, use the language in class, make mistakes. All of those things will help learn the language quickly.
4. Work hard. If I stretch myself every day to learn portuguese I´ll learn that much faster. There are days that I really push myself and I can literally feel myself grow in the language. It´s an amazing feeling.
My goal is to leave the MTC fluent. I think it´s possible. Irmao Nascimento has seen it happen. He´s had missionaries that can understand what he says even if he speaks fast, they understand when he makes jokes in portuguese. I am confident that if I apply those 4 rules, I will be able to be fluent.
I´ve been sleeping better. I´m not sure what it was. Of course I still sometimes get droopy in class but I think that´s more from sitting still for 4 hours straight than from how much I slept that previous night.
This past week or two, I´ve became friends with a few of the Brazilian missionaries that live in our hallway. The Brazilians only stay at the MTC for 19 days because they already speak portuguese. So today they left for their individual missions. I was sad to see a few of them go, because they were a lot of fun. Apparently I´ve married of Lysa and Stasi to two of them. I was showing them pictures of my family and they said "namorada!" and pointed to Lysa and Stasi. Namorada means girlfriend. Then they started calling me conhado which means brother-in-law. Hahaha, Lysa and Stasi you have 2 years to get away before they start coming after you!
On Tuesdays we have a devotional, and today I´m conducting the choir! I´m pretty excited! I decided that we´re going to sing Abide With Me, ´Tis Eventide. It´s a beautiful song. I just have to remember that a choir isn´t the same thing as a band, and I´ll be good to go! I hope I´ll do well, but it´s not like it´s the Mormon Tabernacle Choir or anything so I should be fine.
In 4 short weeks, I´ve already become more organized and focused! It´s not like that was hard though, considering my state of organization skills when I left. But out of everyone in my district,
I´m almost always the person who knows where we´re going, when we have to leave, what we need to be prepared with, etc. I think it has something to do with the nifty little planners they gave us. And when I was in charge of keys, I never lost them! My companion and I have been pretty much the most on time out of anyone else, which is a surprise! This is coming from the kid who could count on his hand how many days he was actually on time to things.
I can feel my wrist becoming carpal tunnel-y. I don´t really have much else to say for this week. Here´s to hoping for another quick week!
Wth love,
Elder Rackham
I can feel my wrist becoming carpal tunnel-y. I don´t really have much else to say for this week. Here´s to hoping for another quick week!
Wth love,
Elder Rackham
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The Plot Thickens...
Hello All!
I thought the subject for today´s email was epic and mysterious is roughly equal parts. Nevermind that it probably has nothing to do with what I´ll be writing about today! I will not conform, dangit!
I´ve decided that saying to myself "7 weeks until I get to the field" sounds much better than "8 weeks until I get to the field" haha. Now that´s not to say I don´t like it here in the MTC. I really do. I´m just more excited to get to Teresina! I´m fairly certain though that as I get closer to the end here in the MTC, I´ll be sad to go.
One thing that I´m a fan of here are the mattresses. They are soft, yet firm; Supple but unrelenting. In other words, with the exception of a night or two, I´ve been sleeping really well! I´m still trying to get used to the food, but the future looks grim. I´m really crossing my fingers that it will be better outside of the MTC. But I´m quickly losing hope, because I´ve been told that in Teresina, they like to eat goat stomach. Yeah... it´s going to be just as bad as it sounds. In neighboring Fortaleza, they decided it would be yummy to eat a lizard on a stick. Ha, fat chance! I´m hoping that hasn´t made it´s way into Teresina. I have been able to eat a lot of the bread and fruit here to fill myself up when I eat, and most of the time the chicken is delicious but I´m not so sure about everything else.
Oh! I finally recieved my name tag on Friday! One of the first sentences I learned was "Eu nao tehno a plaqueta, mas eu vou receber minha plaqueta em sexta-feira." I´ve said that more times than I can count. I have yet to find another missionary that´s going to Teresina, so my district has been joking that it didn´t exist because I didn´t have a name tag and nobody else here is going to Teresina. 3 weeks before I leave for Teresina though, there will probably be a few Brazilians who come in that have been called to Teresina, because they only stay in the MTC for 19 days. I´m sure there are a few missionaries at the Provo MTC who are also going to Teresina but who knows. Apparently 150 are still waiting for visas. I´m really blessed to have gotten mine!
The language is still coming really well. I´ve gotten to the point that I just need to start expanding my vocabulary because we´ve covered the basic tenses which I can get by with until I know more. Plus, I´ll be able to communicate with the Brazilians instead of saying 5 words and staring blankly at them for a minute or two.
The city of Sao Paulo is huge. And by huge I mean, gargantuan. If you haven´t seen it for yourself, it´s so hard to imagine. I look out my window and all I can see is Sao Paulo. They don´t even have a distinctive downtown here because this city is so huge. Several places could be considered downtown. The weather has been either nice, or a little hot. For some reason no matter how perfect it was during the day, sleeping at night is a little on the hot side. It´s not the most fun but that´s okay. I think it has something to do with being on the 6th floor.
One of my instructors, Irmao Anderson, served in the Recife mission. So of course I asked him if he knew Ben Wood or Eli Carpenter and he did! He even had a picture taken with him and Eli. I thought that was cool. The world can be such a small place sometimes.
My favorite day in the MTC is Sunday. One because we have our Church meetings and they´re so powerful and uplifting. I´m floating on clouds every Sunday. It´s just amazing! Two, we actually have some free time! I spent this past Sunday taking a nap and it was glorious. I was feeling slightly under the weather though and completely exhausted from one of the very few not-so-great nights of sleep, I imagine that probably had something to do with it.
Overall, things are great! The days are going by a bit faster, and the weeks are definitely going by faster. The first week felt like 3 weeks, this week felt like just over 1 week, pretty soon I´ll wake up one day in Teresina and wonder where the time went!
Until next time!
Elder Rackham
I thought the subject for today´s email was epic and mysterious is roughly equal parts. Nevermind that it probably has nothing to do with what I´ll be writing about today! I will not conform, dangit!
I´ve decided that saying to myself "7 weeks until I get to the field" sounds much better than "8 weeks until I get to the field" haha. Now that´s not to say I don´t like it here in the MTC. I really do. I´m just more excited to get to Teresina! I´m fairly certain though that as I get closer to the end here in the MTC, I´ll be sad to go.
One thing that I´m a fan of here are the mattresses. They are soft, yet firm; Supple but unrelenting. In other words, with the exception of a night or two, I´ve been sleeping really well! I´m still trying to get used to the food, but the future looks grim. I´m really crossing my fingers that it will be better outside of the MTC. But I´m quickly losing hope, because I´ve been told that in Teresina, they like to eat goat stomach. Yeah... it´s going to be just as bad as it sounds. In neighboring Fortaleza, they decided it would be yummy to eat a lizard on a stick. Ha, fat chance! I´m hoping that hasn´t made it´s way into Teresina. I have been able to eat a lot of the bread and fruit here to fill myself up when I eat, and most of the time the chicken is delicious but I´m not so sure about everything else.
Oh! I finally recieved my name tag on Friday! One of the first sentences I learned was "Eu nao tehno a plaqueta, mas eu vou receber minha plaqueta em sexta-feira." I´ve said that more times than I can count. I have yet to find another missionary that´s going to Teresina, so my district has been joking that it didn´t exist because I didn´t have a name tag and nobody else here is going to Teresina. 3 weeks before I leave for Teresina though, there will probably be a few Brazilians who come in that have been called to Teresina, because they only stay in the MTC for 19 days. I´m sure there are a few missionaries at the Provo MTC who are also going to Teresina but who knows. Apparently 150 are still waiting for visas. I´m really blessed to have gotten mine!
The language is still coming really well. I´ve gotten to the point that I just need to start expanding my vocabulary because we´ve covered the basic tenses which I can get by with until I know more. Plus, I´ll be able to communicate with the Brazilians instead of saying 5 words and staring blankly at them for a minute or two.
The city of Sao Paulo is huge. And by huge I mean, gargantuan. If you haven´t seen it for yourself, it´s so hard to imagine. I look out my window and all I can see is Sao Paulo. They don´t even have a distinctive downtown here because this city is so huge. Several places could be considered downtown. The weather has been either nice, or a little hot. For some reason no matter how perfect it was during the day, sleeping at night is a little on the hot side. It´s not the most fun but that´s okay. I think it has something to do with being on the 6th floor.
One of my instructors, Irmao Anderson, served in the Recife mission. So of course I asked him if he knew Ben Wood or Eli Carpenter and he did! He even had a picture taken with him and Eli. I thought that was cool. The world can be such a small place sometimes.
My favorite day in the MTC is Sunday. One because we have our Church meetings and they´re so powerful and uplifting. I´m floating on clouds every Sunday. It´s just amazing! Two, we actually have some free time! I spent this past Sunday taking a nap and it was glorious. I was feeling slightly under the weather though and completely exhausted from one of the very few not-so-great nights of sleep, I imagine that probably had something to do with it.
Overall, things are great! The days are going by a bit faster, and the weeks are definitely going by faster. The first week felt like 3 weeks, this week felt like just over 1 week, pretty soon I´ll wake up one day in Teresina and wonder where the time went!
Until next time!
Elder Rackham
Monday, January 11, 2010
Pictures from Brazil!
Hello All!
I'm going to post some pictures of Scott from the MTC in Brazil. Enjoy!
Scott and his companion in front of the temple in Sao Paulo.
Scott and other missionaries.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
First Letter!
Hey ya´ll
So as I´m sure you´re all probably aware by now, I made it to the Brazil MTC in one piece. Although I think I left my sanity on that awful 10 hour plane ride to Sao Paulo. It was not fun. I did get to stretch out in 2 seats because the flight wasn´t full but that didn´t help a lot. It´s great here. I love the MTC and the environment. The food is not so hot. I´ll be straight up honest, I do not like most of it. I eat a lot of the breads and desserts and the rice. Other than that I pick at whatever else they have. I have to remember it´s cafeteria food so I know it´ll get better when I get out into the field.
My companion is Elder Knapp. He´s from Washington. He was raised by coyotes and can kill a bear. Of course I´m exaggerating but not by much haha. He´s really cool and he´s a great companion. There are 8 Elders in our district. 3 of us are from New Jersey! One is in the East Brunswick Stake and the other, Elder Vallem, is technically a part of the Scranton PA Stake even though he lives in NJ. It´s weird. They´re all great Elders. Oh yeah and I wasn´t alone at the Philly airport. Elder Vallem was there. It was nice to have someone to talk to. There were about 19 of us total going to Brazil. All but 8 of us were coming from the Provo MTC. There are still more missionaries waiting for visas there.
I forgot a lot of things but that´s to be expected. Apparently there´s a whole bag of things that I couldn´t find so they didn´t make it into my suitcase. So I don´t have toothpaste but the other Elders have been kind enough to give me some. I also don´t have any of the sunscreen I packed except for the small tube for my backpack. But I don´t need it now. It gets to be at least 100 degrees in Teresina then you tack on the humidity so I´ll without a doubt need it then! I think I might die from too much sun. We´ll see.
I was assigned as the District Leader for our District the Wednesday we came in. But that didn´t last long. Elder Flynn is now District Leader. This change happened on Sunday. But apparently I was doing a really good job because I´m now an Assistant to the President. I don´t know how that happened. Technically I´m the Assistant to the Branch President because the MTC is more of like a stake. And it´s not like I have a whole lot of responsibility. There´s only one District of American missionaries in our... zone I guess? In total there are about 30 american missionaries here right now. 4 of them left today. Half of the Brazilian missionaries also left for their missions today so the MTC is getting barren again. In one more week even more Brazilians are leaving but I imagine that we´ll be getting more brazilians soon. I don´t know if we´ll be getting anymore Americans soon.
I´m having a great time! Sorry I left such a mess for you to clean up Mom. Also... they discourage sending packages to the MTC but if you really need to, try to send it before the 4th or 5th week I´m here because there´s a chance I´ll have left for the field by the time it gets here and they can´t forward it to me. I left a few things like toothpaste, sunscreen, whatever was in that walmart bag, my temple recommend holder case, my oil and vial, and maybe a few other things. Sorry!
Oh yeah Portuguese! The language is coming along pretty well if I say so myself. We haven´t had a real instructor yet because ours were on vacation so what they´ve taught us has been really disorganized. Once we get our instructors we´ll be awesome. The Italian is really helping. It´s also really nice to be able to talk to the Brazilians because they´re so happy to help. There´s this one elder who looks like a happy gorilla! But he´s so nice and I love talking to him. Apparently he knows jiujitsu extremely well so he could kill a man but he would never hurt a fly haha. I guess I really do have a knack for languages though because I´m very confidant that I´ll be ver well off when I get to the mission field.
Well I should go.
Love,
Elder Rackham
So as I´m sure you´re all probably aware by now, I made it to the Brazil MTC in one piece. Although I think I left my sanity on that awful 10 hour plane ride to Sao Paulo. It was not fun. I did get to stretch out in 2 seats because the flight wasn´t full but that didn´t help a lot. It´s great here. I love the MTC and the environment. The food is not so hot. I´ll be straight up honest, I do not like most of it. I eat a lot of the breads and desserts and the rice. Other than that I pick at whatever else they have. I have to remember it´s cafeteria food so I know it´ll get better when I get out into the field.
My companion is Elder Knapp. He´s from Washington. He was raised by coyotes and can kill a bear. Of course I´m exaggerating but not by much haha. He´s really cool and he´s a great companion. There are 8 Elders in our district. 3 of us are from New Jersey! One is in the East Brunswick Stake and the other, Elder Vallem, is technically a part of the Scranton PA Stake even though he lives in NJ. It´s weird. They´re all great Elders. Oh yeah and I wasn´t alone at the Philly airport. Elder Vallem was there. It was nice to have someone to talk to. There were about 19 of us total going to Brazil. All but 8 of us were coming from the Provo MTC. There are still more missionaries waiting for visas there.
I forgot a lot of things but that´s to be expected. Apparently there´s a whole bag of things that I couldn´t find so they didn´t make it into my suitcase. So I don´t have toothpaste but the other Elders have been kind enough to give me some. I also don´t have any of the sunscreen I packed except for the small tube for my backpack. But I don´t need it now. It gets to be at least 100 degrees in Teresina then you tack on the humidity so I´ll without a doubt need it then! I think I might die from too much sun. We´ll see.
I was assigned as the District Leader for our District the Wednesday we came in. But that didn´t last long. Elder Flynn is now District Leader. This change happened on Sunday. But apparently I was doing a really good job because I´m now an Assistant to the President. I don´t know how that happened. Technically I´m the Assistant to the Branch President because the MTC is more of like a stake. And it´s not like I have a whole lot of responsibility. There´s only one District of American missionaries in our... zone I guess? In total there are about 30 american missionaries here right now. 4 of them left today. Half of the Brazilian missionaries also left for their missions today so the MTC is getting barren again. In one more week even more Brazilians are leaving but I imagine that we´ll be getting more brazilians soon. I don´t know if we´ll be getting anymore Americans soon.
I´m having a great time! Sorry I left such a mess for you to clean up Mom. Also... they discourage sending packages to the MTC but if you really need to, try to send it before the 4th or 5th week I´m here because there´s a chance I´ll have left for the field by the time it gets here and they can´t forward it to me. I left a few things like toothpaste, sunscreen, whatever was in that walmart bag, my temple recommend holder case, my oil and vial, and maybe a few other things. Sorry!
Oh yeah Portuguese! The language is coming along pretty well if I say so myself. We haven´t had a real instructor yet because ours were on vacation so what they´ve taught us has been really disorganized. Once we get our instructors we´ll be awesome. The Italian is really helping. It´s also really nice to be able to talk to the Brazilians because they´re so happy to help. There´s this one elder who looks like a happy gorilla! But he´s so nice and I love talking to him. Apparently he knows jiujitsu extremely well so he could kill a man but he would never hurt a fly haha. I guess I really do have a knack for languages though because I´m very confidant that I´ll be ver well off when I get to the mission field.
Well I should go.
Love,
Elder Rackham
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