Don't Open the Drains!

        Hey guys. 
This week was awesome. So i always wondered why the drains on the bathroom floor were sealed shut until i accidently kicked one off... There are tons of Giant Cockroaches living in the drain system!! Its so gross. This week was fun. My district is bonding a ton except that i learned that i can tend to get frustrated with people that don't work hard or let homesickness get in the way of their work ethic. We are all going through the same thing and know we need to speak our language. It is doctrine that men will learn the gospel in their own tongue. Some missionaries just don't think it is important. I am at a point that i feel guilty speaking english if it is not a Sunday or a p-day. On sundays they randomly pick four missionaries at the beginning of the meeting who have to give a four minute talk in portuguese. I am lucky not to have been called on yet. I love the language. I can read the scriptures and Preach My Gospel in portuguese and basically understand what is going on. Especially in Preach My Gospel, those words are pretty basic. I can understand probably 70% of what people are saying, its amazing. I pray for the gift of tongues in every prayer. I am getting into shape. I live on the seventh floor and use the stairs several times a day. We race up and down them. My trio got split, it is just me and Elder Orr now. Elder Rollins from provo got his visa and is not in our district and he is Elder Ottenschots comp now. They are still my roomates though which is awesome. 106 Brazilian missionaries went out to the field this week and i was good friends with many of them. A large group went to go serve in Mozambique. They started learning english. The people do wear coats when its not that cold out. Our american district classroom always has the AC on or windows open. A ton of people got sick with a cold virus, i got a little sick but am basically done with it now. i am glad to hear that the scorpion problem is almost taken care of and David that song is my favorite as well. I am so happy to hear about all the missionaries back home. Sometimes i look out my window on the seventh floor into the HUGE city and can feel a strong desire to go and serve and love the people here. All of the views from this building are beautiful. I am trying so hard to become a better person, i´m not setting too high of expectations but the more i study about the doctrine of Christ the more i realized how much it is needed in my life. I love this Gospel, I love the savior, I love my companion, and I love you guys. some pictures might make it to you all today.

Eu amo voces,

Elder Sanchez

Ola familia!!

Hey guys,

It was great to hear from you. i dont have a lot of time in the CTM (MTC) to write, only 40 minutes and even that is cut short because i gotta hit the town to get some shopping done. The city is HUGE!!! and so many favelas haha! i need some hangers and some other stuff. this experience has been amazing. i absolutely love of the food and the people and am so grateful for the oportunity i have to be here., there are two awesome brazilian companions that i share a room with and one of them only has two pairs of pants and one suit jacket. We arent supposed to give anybody any of our stuff in the MTC but he freezes his butt off because it is so cold to him here. I gave him one of my sweaters and he wears it every day. My district is amazing. We are so good at volleyball and feeling the spirit. I love my companions. They are my brothers and we swear we knew eachother before this life. I got to go to the temple today... beautiful temple and it was also many of my Brazilian roomates first time going through since they dont have a temple where they life. It was awesome. Portuguese is definitely the celestial language. I love it. Yesterday i began to understand about 70% of what people say, the speaking back not so much but i love it. It takes very hard work, i have a goal to be able to talk well enough so that the spirit can attend and manifest the truthfullness of my words before i leave the MTC. We have a devotional every Sunday and Tuesday. I will get to go to the temple every P-day while im here. I have pictures but i will have to send them probably after the MTC because the computers dont have ports for SD cards. There is a store somewhere in the MTC mission area that will send my pics for me but i have no idea where it is yet. I bought a Portuguese mini preach my gospel and mini hymn book. Knowing hymns and primary songs has greatly strengthened me while i have been here. The more i learn the language, the more i begin to forget english words and especially grammer structure. It is so funny, me and my companions sometimes cant even communicate in Engish because we forget the words. My companion caught a gecko and he is keeping it as a pet in his dressor haha. I have had two opportuntities to be part of blessings. A district of Sisters left on teusday and the sunday before they left they asked me and my trio de companhieros to give them blessings. The spirit was tangible in the room. I was aslo able to stand in when the sisters in my district (who are the best examples in the world of obedience) asked for blessings. All 7 elders in my district stood in while one gave the blessing. There again the spirit was tangible. I know the power of the priesthood of Jesus Christ is real. I know that God knows us individually. He knows us one by one, (look up Bednars address to missionaries at provo mtc last saturday night if you can) I testify that the Gift of Tongues is real. I know that the Savior is real. I have needed him and continue to need him and his atoning sacrifice. Recently i began studying (along with Portuguese), Christlike attributes and the impact that they can have on ones life. I look forward to studying this and applying it. The most joy comes from the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I do so many role plays in Portuguese. We kind of butcher the lesson because we dont know the language that well but the true learning experience for me is in the preparation. One of my instructors is Irmá (Sister) Correa and she is amazing. Learning the hymns in Portuguese is pretty cool. Thank you all for your prayers and support. Thanks for the pictures and stories. Sadly i am out of time. Hopefully i´ll figure out how to send some pictures. I am having the best time of my life, there is no better work than that of the Lord.

Eu muito ama vocés,

Elder Nathan Sanchez