47 Weeks Left

Elder Breckenridge & Elder Marx

(mom)-How is Brazil doing?
(elder marx)- brasil is an awesome place that is full of life and really kool. The food is amazing. I hear that minas gerais is the best place to eat. Mineiros really know how to cook. Every one is excited for the world cup in 2010.. (I’ll get home before :( )

(mom)-I was wondering what the town is like that you're in.
(elder marx)-CATHOLIC!!!!!!! and really old, like there are stone streets and stuff

(mom)-I did see some old catholic buildings on wikipedia!
(elder marx)-all those buildings are on the same street about two to three blocks apart and were built before the united states was a free nation

(mom)-Tell me about the people.
(elder marx)-nice and friendly usually like to talk but at the same time we'll find people that don’t have time and don’t like us.

(mom)-Would you go back to Brazil in business later on?
(eder marx)-yes, I’ve thought about getting a business degree and an architectural degree and coming back and making a lot more money here and being also able to help out the church, but like every where else I travel outside the U.S. I’m scared of living in a country without due-process

(mom)-How's the lesson teaching going?
(elder marx)- like they were going awesome, but president parrella has put into place a new way he wants the missionaries teaching the lessons and it includes us telling the people about the spirit in the lessons and then showing them when they are feeling the spirit. And he did away with inviting them to pray cause they will receive an answer in the lesson and not need to pray. It’s an awesome way of teaching and I’m really excited to get started

(mom)-What is your favorite lesson to teach or maybe I should say favorite principle to teach.
(elder marx)- I don’t have a favorite thing to teach. We usually try to just follow the spirit and help the investigators feel the things are true

(mom)-Just wondering about some of your day-to-day experiences.
Like what your typical days are like, and how the houses and families are.
(elder marx)-well the houses are nothing like America. They’re small and made out of brick with at least 5 or more in the house. The city I’m in now has the most amount of money for a city that I’ve ever passed through... hope that made sense. So the houses are a little bit bigger than normal ... we did walk into a house on monday that was the biggest and most open house I’ve ever walked into, I would compare it to the Goodyear house, with wood floors and all wood tables and chairs and cupboards the dad owned a wood shop where they made all wood things... the member who took us there is visiting from his studies in Italy and its his parents house. He was baptized in Italy like 6 months ago. So that’s kool. He also offered to take us golfing SWEEEET!!!

any more questions?

Conference was so good and I loved it. President won a lot of respect points this time. My interview was excellent. It was in english. (hehe President Parrella sounds like Elder Goody(of the seventy) speaking in conference hehe) it's kool.

It's been a good week hope to see you next time.

love,
the one and only,
Elder Marx

Thursday, 3/9/08 Belo Horizonte Mission changes

Hey, so yesterday was really long and it almost never ended but I’m good now. It was transfers and I was in the north so that means an 8 hour bus ride to BH which took 10 hours cause of construction on the highway, then went to conference and I’m one of the first missionaries to pool over the wall ... hehe. I got transferred into an area that used to be in the other mission with
Elder Breckenridge in a city call são joão del rey it’s a really cool city. Mom, in your free time you could read up about it. I guess it’s a historical town. It’s really old and has a lot of old catholic churches. My comp says there’s a lot to do on pdays which is going to suck because I like to stay in on pdays and do nothing. But, yeah, I haven’t been here very long so that’s all I can tell you.

My comp is really quiet and shy (American) but talks a lot of Portuguese. It’s his last transfer so I’ll be here for 3 months at least. He’s only had 8 baptisms his whole mission which is kinda rare but he seems like a really nice guy and we have this family that is really good I hope that we can get them into the water before he has to go home.

so the iron curtain comes down over the mission field and Presidente Parrella came out with the frist of many new changes 1. your companionship is to use one computer, in other words while your comp is writting to family you’re right next to him looking at the screen 2. no coke (not a new rule just made clearer) 3. only use myldsmail.net (which is in the handbook but people forget to read the handbook) 4. no more soccer. in large group and stop being competetive
he’s is a man of God called to be our mission president but ..... he scares me like he has this look that kills…

all I hear any more on the streets is micheal jackson music.

The church here in minis is still growing - like they’re not quite to reading the manual, but thet’re getting better. Like in são Paulo, the church runs like a normal utah ward and stake, but here it’s a little different. There are 6 stakes and 4 or 3 districts. I just got transferred to a branch here of about 2 or 3 people attendance and I came from a branch of about 80 to 90 attendance. The members are really lazy so it hard to activate them about missionary work

I did get the package with the blanket which is really good cause I just got transferred to the south were its COLD and I used your blanket last night.

That’s it for today. i love you, mom. thanks for the support and the love and prayers and packages and the money and the letters from the dog and all the others things you do for me.

love the one and only
elder marx