December 17, 2012

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven´t written in a while. Things have been pretty busy!

This week was great! Probably the best part was the Christmas conference that we had on Friday. It was combined with one other zone, and President and Sister Wright were there. Every district had a small presentation, then President and Sister Wright played "Away in a Manger." Sister Wright plays the fiddle, and President plays the piano. Before their missions, they played in an orchestra toghether, so that´s pretty cool. President and Sister also got us Christmas presents! We all got a miniature "Preach My Gosple" in Portuguese! They´re great! I also got to see my first companion, Elder Black, for the first time since my first transfer in Brasil. That was a lot of fun. He has definitely been my favorite companion so far.

Transfers again! This transfer was only 5 weeks because of Christmas. My companion is getting transfered tomorrow, so I will be getting another new companion tomorrow night. Hopefully he´s cool, because this next transfer is going to be 7 weeks to compensate for the 5 week transfer. 

Other than that, things are really normal. Thanks for your support everyone!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

November 19 2012

Hey everyone!

I got transfered! I´m in a place called Carazinho now. It was a 4.5 hour bus ride here from Porto Alegre. The guy sitting next to me was awesome. If you´ve ever seen the movie, "Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy" he looked and sounded exactly like one of those big, fat, slimy aliens that destroyed the Earth. 15 minutes into the bus ride, he was already snoring, and he didn´t wake up until very end. He also drooled all over his chest. I wanted to take a picture of the line of drool hanging from his mouth, but I didn´t have my camera close by. 

Carazinho is an awesome city. It´s much bigger than Rio Pardo, and most of it´s economy is based on agriculture. I´ve already seen dozens of cows wandering free in the streets, and the gaúchos here love to pass the time by riding horses and roping calves. I think I´m going to like this city.

My companion is Elder Bissell. He´s really cool. He´s from Maine, so I still haven´t had a Brazillian companion yet. His family owns a small dairy farm, and he knows everything about cows and milk. He was able to tell me why the milk here is different, and doesn´t need to be refrigerated.

Other than that, things are pretty normal. Thanks for the support!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

November 13 2012

Hey everyone!

Transfers kind of messed our schedule up this week, so P-day is today. I guess the biggest news is that I´m getting transfered! I don't know where yet, but I will find out tomorrow in the bus station in Porto Alegre. You guys will all find out in my email next Monday. I've been in Rio Pardo for 4 months now, and it has been a lot of fun. I really have been blessed to be here. I'm a really big fan of small cities in the middle of nowhere, and Rio Pardo is just that. It's name means Brownish River in english, to give you an idea of how small it is. Hopefully my next area will be as cool as this one is. 

Other than transfers, everything is still great. I'm still having a blast here in Brasil. Thanks for all the support!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

November 5 2012

Hey everyone!

I hope everyone is okay after the hurricane. The people here tell me that it was really bad in the New Jersey area. This week was a lot of fun. I found out that people in Brasil kind of celebrate Halloween. They call it the day of the witches. Hardly anyone goes trick or treating, but I did see one group kids doing it. They also celebrate the day of the dead here. Here in Brasil, they have a holliday almost everysingle week, and it seems like they have like 2 three day weekends every month. It´s ridiculous.

Something really cool happened yesterday! We were going to a lesson with a family that we have been teaching for almost 12 weeks now. They are an incredible family, but they hadn´t been showing very much progress. My companion and I were going into the lesson with the intention of cutting them. The lesson before, we had invited them for like the 5th time to say a prayer and ask if this is the true church. Every other time, they hadn´t done it, so we didn´t have extremely high hopes for this lesson. When we started the lesson, we asked the dad of the family to choose someone to say the prayer. Every other time, he chose someone other than himself to say it, but this time he offered to say it! He said an awesome prayer, and we started the lesson by asking them if they had said the prayer to ask if this is the true church. This time, the dad looked at us and said, "guys, I said it and...." and then he started to cry. He cried for almost five minutes, then he looked at us and said, "I'm going to get baptized! I know that this church is true, and that it can help me! I'm going to get baptized, and everyone else in my family will follow my example!' It was really cool. It's always good to see someone gain a testimony that God is our Heavenly Father, and he does answer our prayers.

Thanks everybody!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

October 22 2012

Hey everyone!

Things are still great in Brasil! I´ve really been embracing this gaúcho stuff. One of the coolest things that they have is called chimarrão (sheem-a-how.) It´s a ground up and dried plant that they drink with hot water from a squash thing called a cuia. It looks really weird, but it´s awesome. I would like to see what happened when chimmarrão was invented. I´m pretty sure that some random gaúcho just looked at a random plant, and said, "I bet I can drink that." No matter how it was invented, it´s awesome. They also have really awesome barbeque here called churrasco, (Shoe-haw-sco) and it´s awesome. They cook it by roasting the meat on spits. They don´t really eat any weird food here, but I did eat a bunch of churrascoed chicken hearts the other night. They tasted really good too.

I hope all of you guys are still doing great, I am!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

October 15 2012

Hey everyone!

Sorry that I forgot to write last week, things can get pretty busy here!

Conference was really awesome! I enjoyed every minute. Every speaker had great things to say. I especially enjoyed the talks given by Elder Holland, and President Eyring. I was able to watch the four main sessions live in our chapel here in Rio Pardo, but I had to wait to hear the Priesthood session until the next day, when I could download the podcast. All of those talks were great too. President Uchdorf's talk was just full of jokes. He is probably the funniest Apostle. President Eyring's other talk during the Preisthood session was also great. I especially liked when he quoted Proverbs 28:1, because that scripture is at the beginning of the movie, "True Grit." 

Everything in Rio Pardo, Brasil is still excellent! Thanks for your support everyone!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

October 1 2012

Hey everyone!

This week was great, like normal. The biggest thing that happened is that a new transfer started. I can't believe that I´ve already been in Rio Pardo for 12 weeks, its nuts! Time has been flying since I´ve gotten on my mission. Last week, I hit 6 months on the mission too. If time keeps moving this quickly, before I know it, I will be home.

Transfers are here again! This transfer, I will be staying in Rio Pardo with my companion Elder Norton. I´m really excited about that, because I really love Rio Pardo, and Elder Norton is a great missionary. 

Thanks everyone!

Sincerely,
Elder Day

September 25 2012

Hey everyone!

Things are still great in Brasil! Thursday was the day that Rio Grande do Sul comemmorates the day that they tried to win independence, and they were supposed to have a parade here in Rio Pardo, but it was too cold that day, so they moved it to Sunday. I wasn´t expecting the parade to be so big!  This tiny litte city in the middle of nowhere had a massive celebration for this. There were more horses in this parade then I have ever seen anywhere else in my life. It was really cool! Everybody in the entire town was dressed like gaúchos.

Other than that, transfers are coming up this week. Time is moving way to fast. It does not seem like I have been here in Brasil for almost 3 months now. On top of that, on the 28th, I will have been on my mission for 6 months already. I don´t know if I´m going to be transfered yet. I will find out next Monday morning when I send my emails. If I am being transfered, I won´t know where I am going untill the tansfer meeting at the bus station in Porto Alegre. Transfers are always stressful. You never know what´s going to happen until it happens. Oh well.

Thanks for everything guys!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

September 17 2012

Hey everyone!

This week was awesome! On Tuesday, We had a big tri-zone conference in Porto Alegre, and Elder Jairo Mazzargadi of the 70 spoke to us. He is a native Brazillian, and he is way awesome. He talked for almost 4 hours straight. No joke. If he had the time he would have kept on going too. It was really awesome to hear him though. I don´t think I´ve ever sat that still for four hours in my life. He spoke about a ton of stuff relating to missionary work, and how we can improve. The main thing he focused on was `real growth.` We are not just working for baptisms. We need to make sure that every convert is truly converted to the gospel. If they are, than they will never go inactive after the baptism. Almost nothing gets you more excited for missionary work than having a General authority come talk to you.

Other than that, it´s been extremely rainy here for the past few days, and I think it will continue until the end of this week. So far I´ve bought two umbrellas, but they both broke the day after I bought them. I guess I´ll just have to get wet!

Thanks everyone!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

September 10 2012

Hey everyone!

Things are going really well here. Not a whole ton happened this week. On the 6th, Brasil celebrated it´s independence, so that was cool. Two people made us Churrasco, which is a type of barbeque that the people make here in Rio Grande do Sul, and it is really good. They take a ton of beef and chicken, and the roast it on a spit. It´s awesome. They really love eating beef down here in the south. I don´t think I´ve gone two days in a row without eating some kind of beef. 

I am really excited for the 20th. It´s a holliday for Rio Grande do Sul. It´s called dia do gaúcho. They celebrate the day that they tried to seceed from the rest of Brasil. They lost the war, but they still celebrate it. It´s awesome. The people here have a ton of pride in their state. They are like the South Carolina of Brasil. It´s the best.

I gots to go!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

September 3 2012

Hey everyone!

Things went really well this week in Rio Pardo. It was a fast sunday, so that was cool. Here in Brasil, the largest meal of the day is lunch. Breakfast and dinner are really small, and lunch is always huge. Because of that, instead of fasting from dinner to dinner, we fast from lunch to lunch. I feel like it´s easier to fast from lunch to lunch than from dinner to dinner.

This week, my companion and I were fasting that we could have investigators at church this week. No matter how many times you visit people, and read the Book of Mormon with them, they are never going to progress unless they go to church. This week we had 9 investigators there! It was awesome. If you put in the work, the Lord will always bless you. The only bad thing is that last week my branch made a trip to the temple, so everybody bore their testimony about the temple. I think it kind of freaked some of the investigators out. Oh well, they had to find out about it sometime.

I gots to go!

Sincerely, 

Elder Day

August 27 2012

Hey everyone!

Things in Brasil are still going great! We had transfers last week. I´m still in Rio Pardo, but I have a new companion. He´s cool, and we get along really well, so that´s good.

The weather has been going nuts here lately. For the first two weeks that I was here, it was really cold. Then, even though summer here doesn´t start untill October, it got really hot for the last 4 or 5 weeks. Then yesterday, out of nowhere, it got really cold again. Plus it was raining. Needless to say, yesterday was not that much fun. Other than that though, everything is going perfect. I´m starting to get to a point where I am comfortable conversing with people in Portuguese, and for the most part, I can understand everything that is being said during conversations and lessons. It really is incredible how fast you can learn a language with the help of the Spirit. I never ever thought that I would learn this fast.

In case you guys haven´t heard, my P-day is on Monday now. Just so you know. Thanks!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

August 20 2012

Hey everyone!

This week was probably the best one yet! It was the last week of the transfer, and the last week that my companion and I are together. Tomorrow, he will be transfered, and I will stay here in Rio Pardo. I don´t know who my new companion will be, but I´m excited to meet him tomorrow.

Also, we baptized a young man named Josué, who said he will serve a mission. He is a total boss. He is already talking with the branch president about the temple, and what he needs to do to get there. We also had a wedding on saturday. EVERYONE IN BRASIL NEEDS TO BE MARRIED. NO ONE HERE IS MARRIED. But now that that couple is married, they can be baptized in the following weeks. It´s awesome.

A lot of times, it feels like the mission is like Plato´s allegory of the cave. We´re trying to wake these people up to the real world. To the real joy and happiness that they can have throught the gospel, but hardly anyone listens. They´re to content watching the shadows on the wall. You have no idea how many people have said, `I believe that your church is true, but I´ve been Catholic my entire life, I can´t change now.` It happens like every week. But there aren´t very many things better than when they do wake up, and realize there is something more. I´ve been so blessed to be able to help people come to a knowledge of the truth.

I gots to go!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

14 August 2012

Hey everyone!

This week was awesome! Things couldnt be going better! We´ve been teaching a ton of people, and I have been so blessed to be here. I am learning so much being here in Rio Pardo. I am getting better at understanding and speaking Portuguese every day

We had a District Conference, and my Mission President and his wife spoke. President and Sister Wright are the coolest. President Wright served a mission here in southern Brasil 43 years ago, and he is a boss. He still speaks Portuguese really well, and he is an amazing President. Sister Wright is even more awesome. She´s never spoken Portuguese in her life, but she accepted one of the most difficult callings in the church. She´s only been here for about six weeks, and on Sunday, she gave an 8 minute talk in Portuguese in front of an entire stake of Brazilians. It was a really good talk too. Anywyas, I gots to go!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

7 August 2012

Hey everyone!

The work is going really well here in Rio Pardo! My companion and I are teaching a ton of people about the restored gospel, and we are seeing a ton of success here! This really is a ´marvelous work and a wonder!´ There aren´t very many things better in the world than seeing people you love learn about, accept, and become active in the Church and the gospel. It´s incredible to see just how many people the Lord has prepared for missionary work here. There are so many families here that have been ready for the gospel, they just needed somebody to bring it to them. I have been so blessed to do that. 

Things are going great with the language also. With each day that passes, I get better and better at speaking Portguese, and I will continue to improve!

I gots to go, but things are still awesome in Brasil!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

31 July 2012

Hey everyone!

This week was awesome! The people here are so great. We have a ton of people to teach here. The people here are a lot more receptive to the gospel here, and they are really receptive and willing to follow the Spirit. I´ve only been here for 3 weeks, but I´ve already seen the gospel bless the lives of so many families here. It´s so cool how that works. I´m developing really great relationships with people here through missionary work, members and investigators alike. Missions really are the best! I gots go, but Brasil is awesome!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

July 24 2012

Hey everybody!

 

This week was really good! We´ve been teaching a lot of really awesome people, and we have a lot of people set on the path to be baptized. The people in Rio Pardo are incredible. They are all so friendly, and helping them receive the gospel of Jesus Christ is awesome. Last night, we found out that one of the people we´re teaching has read 137 pages of the Book of Mormon in just over 4 weeks! That almost never happens. The same night, we taught one of my favorite people here. He´s a fire fighter, and he is way awesome. When we started talking to him, he told us that he had read 3rd Nephi:11 two times, and he wanted to read more, so he read 2nd Nephi:24! He is an amazing person, and is really excited to be baptized.

 

I´ve been having a lot of fun with some members here lately. The people in Brazil are convinced that someone down here invented the airplane before the Wright brothers. I think is name is Santos do Mor. Anyways, we will talk to them, and a lot of times they ask where I´m from. When I say North Carolina, I mention that it´s where the Wright brothers flew the first airplane. They immediately try to correct me about who invented the first plane, and we have a good laugh. The people here believe a lot of funny things like that.

 

Brazil is awesome, and I am learning a ton every day!

 

Sincerely,

Elder Day

July 17 2012

Hey everyone!

Brasil is way awesome! I got here last Tuesday morning, and met President Wright. He just got here two weeks ago, ad he is way cool. After that, we went to the transfer meeting. Every missionary being transferred, which was about 40, met at the Porto Alegre bus station. We mingled for about an hour, then we all got on buses to get to our areas. I took a two hour bus ride to Sana Cruz, where I met my companion Elder Black. Then we took another bus to Rio Pardo, my first area. Its a really small town, and its kind of in the middle of nowhere. Its awesome.

The people here are the best. The state I'm in, Rio Grande do Sul, is the best state in all of Brasil. They've always been different than the rest of the country, and a little over 100 years ago, they tried to secede from Brasil. They started a war, but they were defeated, so they´re still part of Brasil. The people that live here are called gaúchos. Theyre like the equivalent of cowboys here. They wear huge boots, baggy pants, belt buckles. They have huge mustaches, and they think that everyone who isn't a gaúcho is stupid. So far I'm fitting in pretty well with them.

My new address is:

Elder Samuel Day

Missão Porto Alegre Norte

Caixa Postal 13008

Porto Alegre-RS

91010-971

Brasil

I'm having an awesome time. Brasil is a great country, and I'm really glad to be here!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

July 2 2012

Hey everyone!

This week has been really busy! Just so you all know, the fires did not displace, or affect me. Other missionaries who were living further west had to be evacuated, but I was just far enough east that I did not. The fires were pretty scary though. On Tuesday night, we could see houses burning in the distance. It was really sad.

On Saturday we had a baptism! It was so awesome. The father was conferred the Aaronic Priesthood, and ordained to the office of a Priest at 3:15, and he was able to baptize his three children at 4! It was such an awesome moment, and I am so glad that I was able to be a part of it. It's amazing how much having the gospel has blessed their lives. The whole family was in a really bad spot, but now they are back on their feet, and they are all so happy.

I also got my visa this week! I will be leaving for Brazil on Monday, July 9th! I am so excited to get down there. I have had an awesome time in the Colorado Spring Mission, and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to be here. 

Thanks for everything guys!

Sincerely,
Elder Day

June 25 2012

Hey everyone!

 

This week has been really awesome!

 

On Tuesday, we had "Specialized Training." The Mission President, and the Assistants traveled around to each of our zones, and taught us about personal conversion, and how powerful it is. We can't convert others until we ourselves are converted. It was an awesome meeting, and I learned a ton. We got to watch an MTC talk by Elder Holland about the conversion of Peter. It was one of the coolest talks that I've seen.

 

On Saturday, I spent all day helping people move. Four people called us that day, asking for help moving things. It was crazy. I didn't even get to change into a shirt and tie. Also, a wild fire started just a few miles from my area. It's just over the mountains from me, and I can see the smoke. On Satuday, there was so much, it covered the sun, and made the light orange. It has since died down, but I can still see it coming from over the mountains.

 

This Saturday, we have a baptism! I'm really excited for it. Three kids are being baptized. One of them is a 12 year old boy, and he reminds me a ton of Kevin. They are all really excited, and they love the Church. It's been really cool to see the change that has occured in these peoples lives since they started coming to church. The dad has stopped smoking, and he is a lot happier. The kids fight a lot less, and the entire family is just so happy. They all get along so much better. It's so cool how positively the gospel affects every aspect of life!

 

Talk to you next week!

 

Sincerely,

Elder Day

June 18 2012

Hey everyone!

This week went really well. My companion and I really buckled down, and we saw some really cool blessings because of it. We made a commitment that we would work as hard as we could. We talked to everyone we could, and we asked for referrals from everybody. Even if people weren't interested in hearing from us, almost all of them had suggestions about who we could go see. At the end of the week, we had taught twice as many lessons as we had set a goal for, and we had a few new investigators to teach. It's amazing what can happen when you work. It's just like what it says in Alma 26:27. If you work, even if you are tired, the Lord will give you success. I know that as we continue to work as hard as we can, we will continue to see those blessings. Thanks for everything!

Sincerely,
Elder Day

June 11, 2012

Hey everyone!

This week has been great! A lot of cool stuff has happened. This week, my companion and I needed to do a lot of finding activities, because we didn't have very many investigators. The members in our wards aren't very good at giving us referrals, so we did a lot of tracting. I only have time to share one story, but it's pretty cool.

We had been tracting for a while, and we had some success. A couple people were interested, and we had two return appointments so far. We were getting to the end of the street, and it was almost lunch time, so my companion and I were both pretty tired. We knocked on a door, and this huge guy answered. We talk to him for a few seconds, then he interrupted us to say, "I'm Mormon." It turns out that he was an inactive member who hadn't been to church in almost 40 years. For the past week, he had been feeling like he needed to go back to church. That morning, he woke up super sick, so he had to stay home from work. If he hadn't been sick, he wouldn't have been home when we stopped by. Because he was home though, he met us, and now he's agreed to meet with us this week, and to start going back to church.

Everything is still going really well, and I'm having a great time in Colorado!

Sincerely,
Elder Day

June 4, 2012

Hey everyone!

The Colorado Springs Mission is awesome! I got here last Monday, and I've been having a great time! On Monday and Tuesday, I stayed at the Mission Home, and did some orientation stuff with the Mission President, and the AP's. I also had the chance to go out with missionaries from the surrounding area and tract. On Monday I went with Elder Ault to a trailer park by the Stake Center. The first door I ever knocked on was a members trailer, so that was cool. No one else opened their door, and there were huge dogs everywhere. It was cool. On Tuesday, I went with Elder Jensen to the neighborhoods around the Stake Center. We talked to a lot of people, and found that area a few potential investigators.

I met my companion, and found out my area on Wednesday! My companion is Elder Talbot. He's really cool. He's from Atlanta, Georgia, and he knows Connor, and the rest of the Day's down there really well, so that's cool. I'm serving in the North Eastern zone of Colorado Springs right now, and its great. I can see the Air Force Academy, and the mountain NORAD is in from my area. The area is great. My companion and I have already reactivated a less active family, and their three kids are scheduled to be baptized on June 30th! Their names are Ashley, Daniel, and Brittney Penley. They are really awesome. Brittney is only 11 years old, but she has so much faith. It's so cool to see. Daniel is 12, and he loves to be outside. He loves camping and riding bikes, and playing basket ball. He is a ton of fun. The whole family is great. I've been having a ton of fun here in the past week The people here are so awesome! The members are great too! We serve two wards in my area, so we get fed by the members almost every day. I almost never have to cook for myself, which is a huge blessing. I don't know what I would do if I had to cook dinner for myself every night.

My address here is:

Elder Samuel Day
4090 Center Park Drive, Suite 4
Colorado Springs, CO 80916

That is the Mission Office address, so anything sent to me needs to have my full name on it. Thanks for being so great everybody!

Sincerely,
Elder Day

May 25, 2012

Hey everyone!

 

This week has been pretty normal, except that I got temporarily reassigned on Wednesday! On Monday, I will be leaving to serve in the Colorado, Colorado Springs mission untill my visa arrives. I'm really excited. I can't wait to get to Colorado.

 

Other than that, this week has been pretty normal. On Sunday, the Provo Temple President spoke at the Fireside. He talked about temples, and how special and sacred they are. He also talked a little about why all missionaries need to go throught the temple before their mission. I think it was one of my favorite talks that i've seen so far.

 

On Tuesday, Elder Rasband, of the Presidency of the 70 gave the devotional. His talk was about how important it is that missionaries ahve the Spirit with them, and how we can make sure that we do. I really enjoyed that one also.

 

Wednesday was awesome. I was assigned to be a host for the new missionaries that arrived. That was really fun. I helped them through the check-in process, and took them to their residences and classrooms. I was actually the host for an Elder Day from Calfornia. He is serving in one of the Salt Lake missions. Now I've met two other Elder Day's, but I have no idea if we're related in any way. Just a couple hours after I hosted, I got my reassignment from the Travel Office, so that was really cool too.

 

That's about everything exciting that's happened this week. I can't wait until Monday, when I finally get into the field. Colorado is going to be a lot of fun!

 

Love,

Elder Day

May 18, 2012

Hey everyone!

 

Everything is still going great here. I'm starting to understand Portuguese really well. Speaking it can still be a little difficult sometimes, but I'm making a ton of progress, and I'm having a lot of fun. I've only got a week and a half until I should be leaving the MTC, either for a reassignment or for Brazil, so I need to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can. I'm not worried about it though, and I'm really excited to get out of the MTC, and into the field.

 

L. Tom Perry spoke at devotional on Tuesday! I had no  idea that he was so tall, or that he was 92 years old. He definitely doesn't look that old. He doesn't sound like it either. He gave a really great talk on the Priesthood, and how powerful it is. For most the talk, he was pretty quiet, but at the end he said really loudly, "I know the power of the priesthood!" When that happened, I saw a few people in front of me jump awake. It was pretty funny. That was the beginning of his testimony, and the rest of it was just as powerful. Now that Elder Perry has spoken, I have had the privilege of hearing five Apostles in the seven weeks that I've been here. I've been trying to remember each talk as well as I can, because I don't think I'll have an opportunity to hear from Apostles so frequently again.

 

I was finally able to submit my final visa application on Wednesday, so it shouldn't be very much longer until I get my visa. There's still a chance that I will get reassigned, but I'm confident that I will be able to go straight to Brazil.

 

Other than those two things, this week has been a lot like the other six that I've been here. I love you guys!

 

Sincerely,

Elder Day

 

P.S. My new mailbox is 129. Anything sent to me should be addressed to that mailbox number. Thanks!

May 11 2012

Hey everybody!

I think that this has been one of the best weeks here so far! Fast Sunday was really good. It was really cool to hear all the members of my branch bear testimony in Portuguese. It was even cooler to be able to understand what they were saying. For the Sunday night fireside, the head of the Missionary Public Programs department spoke. He gave an awesome talk about charity, and why it's important to love the people you serve.

On Tuesday, Elder Hinkley visited the MTC. I was walking out of my classroom to go to lunch, when a security officer asked my companion and I to hold the door for some people that were coming through. When they walked through, one of the men that walked through said, "Thank you!" Another man started talking to us about where we are serving. When we said Brazil, the first man turned around and said, "Well in that case, obrigado!" When he turned around, I realized that it was Elder Hinkley. He walked with us all the way to the cafeteria, and I got to shake his hand! Elder Christopherson gave the devotional that night, and he spoke about the nature, and relationship between the God Head. I've seen four Apostles here now, and they have all given awesome talks. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will get to see Elder Holland, or Elder Bednar while I'm here.

On Thursday, I met a few people who are going to the Raleigh mission. They're really cool, and I've been able to spend some time with them and tell them what it will be like. I also ran into someone who knows the Tuckfield's. His name is Elder Lucas, and he's going to a mission in Mexico.

I finished the Book of Mormon last week! I started in first Nephi when I arrived here, and now I'm done! I started over a few days ago, and I'm going to try and finish again before I get to the field.

Hopefully next week will be as good as this last one was! I miss you guys!

Love,

Elder Day

May 4, 2012

Hey everyone!

 

I'm now almost two thirds of the way finished at the MTC! Time really flies here. It really doesn't feel like I've been here for over five weeks now. Everything is going really well, including Portuguese. I'm learning it a lot faster than I expected. I can speak better Portuguese after less than three weeks of study than I could speak German after a whole school year! I've taught a little less than ten lessons in Portuguese now, and they've all gone really well. Tomorrow, I have my first TRC (Teaching Resource Center.) I'm really excited for that. I will get to teach members from the community who come to the MTC to be "investigators." They are all really good at it, and it creates a really authentic feeling.

 

On Sundays, after the fireside, they screen Church movies, and old talks from General Authorities for the missionaries to watch. Last Sunday, I watched a talk that David A. Bednar gave during a Christmas devotional at the MTC a few years ago. I think it was one of my favorite talks that I've ever seen. It's called, "the Character of Christ." I don't know if it is available to the general public, but if you can, I really suggest listening to, or reading it. It is all about, as the name suggests, the Character of Christ. Elder Bednar said that what makes Christ so special, is that in situations where all of us would turn inward, and be selfish, Christ turns outward. He mentioned examples from the prayer in Gethsemane, and also from when He was on the cross. Even while Christ was hanging from the cross, He was ministering to the criminals next to him. He was always more concerned with the well-being of others, than he was for himself. There are other great examples of this that he mentioned, but I don't have time to type them all now.

 

Everything is still going really well here, and I am really enjoying myself. I love being able to spend sixteen hours a day studying, learning, and teaching about the gospel of Christ, and there is nowhere else that I would rather be right now. I love and miss you guys!

 

Sincerely,

Elder Day

April 27 2012

Hey everyone!

A ton of things have happened in the past week and a half. They are going to be constructing a huge nine story building here in the next week, so they switched everyone's schedules around. My new P-day is Friday. More importantly, I finally got moved into my Portuguese classes last Wednesday, and I am having a lot of fun there. From the time I walked into the classroom, until today, I don't think that my teacher has said more than 100 words to me in English. I've had to adjust really fast, but I'm also learning the language a lot faster than I expected. It has only been a week, but I can already feel my way through most of the lessons. I still can't speak very well, but it's good enough that people can understand me. On the second day of language study, I already had to teach and investigator in Portuguese. My companion and I taught him four times. Yesterday we found out that he is going to be one of our teachers, so that was really cool. All of the teachers here are great.

The devotionals this week were really cool too. On Sunday, Brother Allen, the director of the Missionary department for the entire Church was here. He was absolutely hilarious, but he still delivered a really powerful message. He said that no matter how hard missions can get, there is almost no reason that any missionary should ever come home. The Lord can help you with any challenges that you face. On Tuesday, Elder Russel M. Nelson was here. He titled his talk, "The Doctrine." It was about the Doctrine of Christ, how powerful a tool it is in the conversion process. He also talked about just how simple, yet powerful the doctrine itself is. It is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I've had that memorized in English for a few weeks now, and I almost have it memorized in Portuguese. With Elder Nelson visiting, I have seen three Apostles in the four weeks that I've been here. It really is awesome to see and hear the devotionals here, especially when an Apostle comes. I'm just hoping that a couple more will visit while I'm here. That is one advantage this MTC has over the Sao Paulo MTC.

Other than that stuff, my week has been pretty uneventful. I love you guys!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

April 16

Hey everyone!

This week has been a lot of fun! On Tuesday, Keith B. McMullin, of the previous Presiding Bishopric spoke at the devotional. His talk was about the importance of the Holy Ghost in teaching. He also told us not to be afraid of bearing our testimonies. He told a story about an Area 70 in Africa who was riding a bus with a bunch of Evangelicals. One lady starting yelling about how awful Mormon's are. Soon, she had the whole bus in an uproar. Instead of keeping his head down, and trying to stay out of trouble, the 70 started reading 2nd Nephi 25:26. After the first line, the lady yelled, "Amen!" After each line, more of the bus got involved, until everyone was cheering their agreement. After he finished the verse, the lady asked him if he was a preacher. The 70 told her he was reading straight from the Book of Mormon. She was baptized a little while later. It just goes to show how powerful the Book of Mormon can be. If people will just take the time to read it, and pray about it, they can't deny it's truthfulness.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful until Friday. My companion, who is also going to Brazil, received his visa, and travel plans. He is leaving this Tuesday, along with the rest of my district. I turned in my visa application around the same time as my companion did, so I am hoping mine will arrive any day now. On Wednesday I will probably be assigned a new companion, and I will be placed into Portuguese classes. I am really excited. I don't know exactly what I will be doing on Tuesday though. My whole district will be gone by 8:00 am, so I will probably be attached to one of the other districts in my zone until Wednesday. I haven't gotten any information from the MTC about this yet, so I'm just guessing with all of this.

For the Sunday night devotional, M. Russel Ballard was here! He talked a lot about the development of Preach My Gospel, and how powerful a tool it is. He also told us that we shouldn't get involved in really deep doctrinal discussions with investigators. In most cases, the only things we should be stressing is the Doctrine of Christ, which is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. If they understand that, everything else will follow without issue.

I'm having a great time here, but I can't wait to get to Brazil. I know there are people there that are just waiting for me to share the gospel with them, and I hope that I can do my best! I love you guys!

Sincerely,

Elder Day

April 9th, 2012

Hey everyone!

This week was awesome! On Monday, I got to shake President Brown's hand! (the President of the MTC) Vai Sikahema, the first Tongan to ever receive a football scholarship to BYU gave us a devotional on Tuesday, and he was great. He is a Chief Broadcaster for NBC in Philedelphia, so he had some really funny stories for us, but his message was mostly how important missions, and missionaries are to the world. My classes have been going really well, and I am learning so much about the role the Spirit plays in teaching, and conveying the message of the Gospel. Because of that, I am getting much better with sharing the lessons with "investigators" in ways that they can feel and understand the Spirit. Being in the MTC for Easter was even better than being here for General Conference. We had a huge MTC-wide sacrament meeting in the gym, and President Packer was presiding! He was there with his son, Elder Packer of the 1st Quorum of the 70, and we all took the Sacrament together. President Packer shared a message with us about the Atonement of Christ. It was centered on the scripture, "Repentance could not come unto man save there be a punishment." He told us anytime we sin, it is like we break our spirits, and the only way we can fix it is through the Lord Jesus Christ. We can't expect everything to be ideal, and that the trials we experience are what make us strong. If we follow the Atonement, we can have happiness, and that we need to remove fear from our lives, as it is the opposite of faith. I enjoyed his talk more than any i have heard by him in recent memory. He was more lighthearted than i have ever seen him, and he even told a couple of jokes. I am very glad that I had the opportunity to be here for that. Later, on Sunday night, I was able to watch, "Joseph Smith, the First Prophet of the Restoration." I have seen it a couple times already, but I still love watching it. I have always found Joseph Smith and his life fascinating, and I love learning about him. After the movie, my companion and I were walking back to our residence hall, and I was telling him about my experiences at Nauvoo, Carthage Jail, Liberty Jail, and other Church history sites. I was very young when I visited all of those places, but I still remember the feelings I experienced. As I was telling Elder Hendrix about them, I was overcome with the Spirit. I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet, and I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I can't wait to share these feelings and experiences with others in Brazil. There is nothing I would rather be doing right now than serving a mission. I love and miss everybody, and I am having a great time here!

Love,

Elder Day

April 2, 2010

The MTC is awesome. Every minute of my time is taken up while im here. I have around 8 hours of classroom instruction each day, and a ton of personal study time. I've been trying to read through all of the Book of Mormon during that. Class is awesome. They are putting a huge emphasis on "Teaching people, not lessons," so we have been teaching "investigators," that are played by either our teachers, or our companions. Soon we will have to teach other people. They could either be an actor from the community, or an actual investigator, so that will be pretty nerve racking. They are also teaching us to invite investigators to be baptized on our first visit with them. That sounded really strange to me when I heard it, but now as I've had the opportunity to learn, and teach more, I am becoming much more comfortable with it. I know that if I can listen to the spirit, and teach the right things, than anybody that I happen to be teaching will know the gospel is true, just as surely as I know it. I am learning to teach these lessons in English first, because of the pilot program I am a part of. I will begin to learn Portuguese on April 18th, and I am very excited for it. Brennen Davis got here on the same day, and he is already teaching in Russian, so I will have a lot of pressure on me to learn the language in a lesser amount of time. I will be leaving for Brazil on May 28th, so I will be in the Provo MTC for a long time. I cant wait to get to Brazil, and start sharing the gospel with the people there. I hope everyone knows that I love and miss them!