Week No. 5 7/16/08

well another week down and 4 or so to go. time is really starting to pick up. O templo foi otimo hoje. o temple de são paulo is like the best. There’s stained oak and just awesome, just wished devon could have been there with me. so last week i got my first hair cut from the ctm barber yeah, he like doesn’t look when he is cutting and just talks and sings the whole time but he has cut hair at all four of the ctms that have been in brazil. but its funny cause like elders will come to class with missed spot in there hair, i don’t have that problem cause i was like ‘hey focus on my hair’ but he doesn’t speak english so it’s funny to try and talk to him.

we taught a family last saturday it was kool, but not at the same time. like there’s 12 in the district and only enuff rooms for half so we had to split up so me and doogy had to teach with others. i taught with elder coats (idaho) and elder halgren (montana) they did awesome. i stumbled but got my message out. it was awesome cause there wasn’t a word that i wanted to say that i didn’t know, so i totally had everything i needed to say in my lesson. there was some divine help with that cause me and housley tried to teach our lesson the night before and we couldn’t keep it under 15 mins.

all is well aqui the language is ok i feel a lot better EVEN THO ELDER SNEEZE-ALL-DAY (housley) GOT ME SICK so yea, I sleep better even tho I’m sick, weird.

can’t wait to leave the place they call spirit prison love you all, elder marx
sure, dad, you can use my 47 inch tv while I’m gone…LOL

(note before I start Scott’s email. Most people hanging around our family will end up with a nickname. After the first week when we heard Scott’s companion, Elder Housley, was a pretty studious kid, we were a little concerned. Scott, to say the least, isn’t. We’ve nicknamed Scott’s companion Doogie Houser. So that’s who Scott’s referring to when he says doogie, his companion. He also is DYING to meet an apostle in real life. When he read Devon’s letter about all the apostles at the mtc in provo for missionary president training, scott was bummed. That’s the explanation for another reference he was making. And finally, with 45 cousins in the Vegas valley, our kids are constantly meeting people that know a cousin or aunt and uncle, the first thing every body asks is …are you related to…)


Ok, so you were right. i think i told you about this other missionary serving in the SP north which covers the ctm and all the teachers live close to the ctm and this elder marx is in their ward. so guess what i get every time i see a new teacher "marx, marx are you related too?" not kidding. It’s crazy, i can’t escape it! I’m in another hemisphere and i still get it. but it’s all good. so for the 4th of july all the americans totally played it up. I’ve never been so patriotic in my life. for lunch we did get burgers and fries and what the brazilians could call ice cream it just wasn’t the same, but I’m grateful for their effort. on sunday we had ctm conference cause of it being fast sunday (have them every fast sunday and tell brian that not even the water fountains work let alone the vending machines) plus if you see someone go even a inch toward a water fountain your like HEY its fast Sunday, cause if i have to fast so do you. i sang in a quartet the star spangle banner it was pretty good.

ok last friday we went tracking. IT WAS AWESOME. it was the first time i really felt like a missionary. so much fun. tell devon to keep his apostles, i talked to people in my mission language. Shnazzberries! (i told my district about shnazzberries at first they thought it was stupid but soon enough one was like shnazzberries! Yeah, that’s right, spreading the word.) we must have talked to like 60 people. most of them were like what ? no, get away, cause i guess the missionaries go to the same place every friday and so they were prepared by the wrong person. i even talked to a anti in english from north Carolina. Yeah, he said that we’re a really good business and we were doing good coming and talkin to all the poor gullible people takin 10 percent of there money. he also said that’s what a bishop told him in north carolina (good job brian... jk) but me and doogie just bared our testimony and left. it was sad that his heart was hardened. hopefully we softened it a little . that’s what we keep hearing "just leave a good impression for the next missionaries" if that’s the case, do i get to count it to my total if they get baptized? Jk. wrong attitude i know, but funny.

so this saturday me and doogie are teaching a member family in the ctm like all memory no papers and all in Portuguese, so plaese pray for doogie so he can talk the whole time and I’ll just testify.

Um, i think that’s it. oh we went to the são paulo temple today so we got back a lot earlier than usual so I’m looking forward to chillin. so today is a holiday so I wasn’t even sure if the email place would be open. i guess like in 1878 or some stupid year brazil almost had a civil war so now they celebrate an almost fight ... sounds to me like some lame excuse of a day off work.

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.