Email June 25, 2008

Well, another week down I’m technically on my 3rd week, I leave August 12th um... i totally forgot what i was going to write but i hope i can remember... every thing is good at the ctm or centro de treinamento missionãrio.

As I am sitting here in the computer place I’m sitting next to a one elder marx from Oregon. yea crazy. he said his family is from utah. crazy crazy

ok so the schedule goes as follows
630 arise
7 personal study
730 comp study
8 breakfast
830 class
1230 missionary directed study time
1245 lunch
145 class
515 dinner
615 mdst
825 gym
930 shower
10 quiet time
1030 light out
thats monday wed friday; tues day no gym but devotional, thursday no gym just mdst for 3 HOURS!!!!! and saturday large group meeting at 8 sunday church in the morning free time between 11;10 an 6 when i go to choir and yes mom we sing in Portuguese and fire side at 7 the district meeting then night time as followed

so i now know why elders get fat in the ctm cause theres a lot of food and they just sit in class all day i think i weight like 160 kilos or something i cant remember

just remember James E. Faust said that there’s two missionaries ones who went to brazil and the ones who wish they did. hola

This blog is a little boring without Pictures

Scott has not sent any yet, so I barrowed a few I found on the internet.


Centro de Treinamento Missionãrio, or CTM as it is referred to in Brazil.

Email June 18, 2008

hey every buddy im doing good in the ctm its way fun. Yes is true straight from a missionary we eat beans and rice ever MEAL!!! not kidding. Irmo calvocunte /kow-vo-cunche/ or we just call him captin crunch he teaches us in the afternoon and we have such a good time. To my brothers and sisters just remember what the stake president said that i need letters and he is right im not kidding, you cant disobey a man called of god can you... didnt think so. its kool. some times we talk about deep doctrine in between class and mdst. some pretty intresting stuff. my district is the best in the whole ctm. and im so lucky to be a part of it. just me and my companion are going to belo horizonte but its cool most of them are going to the curachiba. well times up and got to go be i talk to you next week peace

WE RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM THE MTC PRESIDENT

Dear Parents,
We are happy to send the good news that your missionary has arrived safely at the Brazil MTC. What a great joy and privilege it is to greet each missionary as they come through the front door of the MTC for the first time.
They now have companions and are settled into their rooms. They are assigned to a district with capable and caring instructors for language and lesson study.
The branch presidents and their wives, who are usually a senior missionary couple or mature Brazilian couple, will soon give them a second greeting. These couples are rewarded in their callings through the love they always develop as they embrace and watch over the missionaries.
The MTC has a full time live-in physician to care for their health needs. He is assisted by his able wife.
We are also happy to report that the Cafeteria food is abundant and very good.
Your missionary will be able to e-mail home on Preparation Day after a morning at the Temple. This will be either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on individual assignments.
Important information is attached for communicating with your missionary through letters and other mail while at the MTC. Your missionary's district is 24-B and the mail box number is15. Too many packages are arriving after the missionary has left to the field, so we ask that you send a package only in the first 4 weeks and after that send any packages to his or her mission home.
We are also parents of children who have served as missionaries. And we have been missionaries who have left family. Please know that we are mindful of you and know of your love for your missionary.
Your very important young person is about to make an eternal difference in the lives of others. We hope you will be encouraged and comforted by this quote by President Lorenzo Snow: "There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder [sister] when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children."
Please accept our love,
President and Sister Woodward
Brazil

To: The Blog



SPECIAL THANX



Hey, I'm off to Brazil.

I just wanted to say thanx to everyone in my life. You have molded, shaped, or touched me to make me who I am or helped me see what to stand for. A lot of you came to my farewell. For that, I am grateful. To come a long way...for only a 15 min talk... means a lot. It means you care.

I wish a special thanx to a woman of great spiritual stature, Sis. Catherine Higbee. She has been my companion for the last 10 months and has made it the best. I hope to have many more months, even years w/her. She is my best friend and a person I confide in. To her, I leave my heart.



Next special thanx to the toughest crew in the 702. You took a chance on a semi-kool new kid with a nice truck and a popped collar. Through thick and thin, big or small, trucks in ditches, or cops hot on our trail. . ."LEAN!!!" Todd would say or "SHNAZZBERRIES" Russell would say next. May the ROAR of the Dragon ever echo the roads of Vegas. To you, I leave memories.



Last but not least, my familia. Through the ups and downs I've felt your prayers and read your testimonies. My mom and dad have put up with the most. Either late nights or bad tempers. Even short answers to the basics: "Where are you going? Who's going to be there? What are you doing?" Teaching right from wrong, showing me the way. To you, I leave my testimony that the work I go to is the purpose of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. I hope to wear his name proudly. I hope to carry the spirit with me and the message of the restoration -- That through the Prophet Joseph Smith this church of Christ was restored. I wish to tell people the way. . .the way to exaltation and returning to Christ. And in the name of Christ, I leave.

FACTS ABOUT BELO HORIZONTE

• Belo Horizonte is Portuguese for 'Beautiful Horizon'
• B.H. is the 3rd largest city of Brazil
• It has a population of 2.4 million in the city and over 5.3 million in the metropolitan area
• B.H. is the first modern Brazilian city to spring from an architect's drawing board. The city was developed along the same plan as one corresponding to Washington D.C.
• B.H. is well-known for its climate (hot and humid in summer, warm and dry in winter), claimed to be one of the best in South America