No Campo!! (In the Field)

Gosh, there is so much to talk about. Right now i´m in a little internet Café provided by the catholic church next door. First thing. My last day in the MTC was a little rough. I got very sick, bunch of fever symptoms and i slept for probably an hour the night before reporting to the field. When we arrived at the mission and met the mission president, President Thomas (who is awesome and the most loving guy), I was still super sick and sleep deprived. It was rough. During my first interview, I think my president thought that i have a hard time being happy because he said things like referencing to that and of encouragment. When in reality, i just felt sick and tired as a dog that day. But all is well now, i will have plenty of opportunities to get to know him better. His wife is learning portuguese as well, so she can really relate to the americans.

I am serving in the zone, Campo Limpo, and in the area, Jardim Cantanduva (also the name of my ward). Brasil is so different from America. I´m getting used to it though. My trainer, Elder M. Silva, is great. He works pretty hard. He misses home and talks about it. Crazy thing is that he only has 4 months out and is already training. I love the guy and i can feel his love for me in his patience while i´m learning protuguese. The apartment is so dirty but i will start cleaning. I asked him why its so dirty and he said "there is no point in cleaning because other elders will just make it dirty again." Well ya´ll know how i am about keeping things clean, and it is only us in the apartment right now so i´m gonna do some damage!

In the São Paulo West mission, the missionaries get an hour and a half to send emails!! I was so happy to hear this. So now about Brasil, If you want to see truly pimped out little Fiats and VW Bugs, come to Brasil. I have never heard stereo systems so loud and powerful. Our apartment is probably 150m from the road and some cars drive by pumpin there jams and our windows rattle. I think its great! I´m due for an upgrade in my system when i get home ;) 

The city is so compact, i am not in an area with a lot of tall buildings, its just all neighborhood above stores. The buildings are in the most random shapes and everything is gated. We have a few large buildings of apartments. The roads are so random and have super long names, I´m getting used to them the more i make contacts and ask for addresses. There are dogs everywhere, and dogs like to poop. Just gotta watch where you step sometimes! This area is just a bunch of city on huge crazy hills. At some points i can catch amazing beautiful views of the Interlagos (part of the city with larger buildings) or of other parts of my mission. Its amazing. This week i dont have any pictures, getting settled in and adjusted kept me ocupied and i need to buy some adapter. I promise i´ll have some goodies next week. Brother Christensen was right about the Kite flying. So many kids, old and young will fly kites all day long and try to cut eachothers lines. Its fun to walk and contact in the vielas. Vielas are not literal roads but usually connect roads or just lead to more houses stacked on top of eacher.

Now for the spiritual stuff, This past week has been full of ups and downs and i´m sure its just the beginning. With my Portuguese, i´m beginning to understand people and the lord blesses be when i truly need to say something. I have had a few powerful lessons that i think affected me more than the people we were teaching. We have one investigator, her name is Rebecca, She has had all the lessons already and still meets with us. She is only 12 years old and we teach her at her aunts house. We are pretty sure her parents are totally cool with her getting baptised but she wont get baptised. She is afraid that she will join the church and then leave it. She knows the gospel and she knows baptism is her next step but her fear is holding her back. It hurts to see someone struggle with a worry like this. Our last lesson i invited her to be baptized again and she broke down into tears because she doesnt know what to do. I didnt know what to do at that point either. I told her to keep praying and that no matter what, the missionaries still love her. We have another family investigating the church, Familia Souza, and they are just great. They are so knowledgable in the BIble and are so open to learn more. They read to book of Mormon with real intent to learn and understand. They keep their commitments and came to church yesterday. It was their´s and my first day at church here. The bishop welcomed me to the ward in Sacrament meeting... and then nobody did anything, my companion nudged me to go up to the pulpit and i went. I told them my name, where i am from, and bore my testimony in the most broken portuguese you have ever heard. But i felt the spirit and it was great. 

I am living off of amazing lunches of Brazilian food with members. Nobody eats breakfast or dinner here. So i´m just microwaving eggs and eating bread. Its working for now. I am so glad to hear that Cody made it! I miss him. Every week i read emails or have different experiences, i learn that i am so emotional. I got teary eyed just looking at a picture of the dogs. I am so grateful for the opportunity to email. It fills up my tank with love that i can draw from throughout the week. I am learning that to be blessed we must first pay the price. And that if we pay the price, and demonstrate faith, that no matter what... The Lord will bless you. Dad, close call with my subs there! 

I am going to share now a little bit about what i am learning in my personal study each day...

Ether Chapter 12 in the Book of Mormon is all about Faith. I have been studying faith because it is the foundation of everything and i need some more of it in the Gift of Tongues! Verse 6 :"Ye recieve no witness until after the trial of your faith" Verse 8:"And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; Wherefore they first believed in the Son of God." The fruits of faith are layed out in Verse 4. Give the chapter a read, It is great. i´m running out of time to email. I love you guys, I hope my emails make sense, i try to plan for them but being my first week in the field and in this culture it was tough to organize. Overall, I´m doing great! I´m growing, learning, speaking, teaching, and working! I pray for you all! Love you mom and dad! David, glad to hear about your investigator!

Com Amor,

Elder Sanchez

Hey guys. This week was great. My favorite part was proselyting Last Saturday! My instructor told my companion and i to just talk to everybody we saw. And that is what we did. We were definitely guided by the spirit!! We were so blessed! Two people even came up to us asking for Books of Mormon. They said they heard about the Mormons, I asked them if they had Mormon friends and they said no and that they just wanted to know more. So i gave them a book and my testimony. I Love the people of Brasil. Americans are so stubborn haha! 

I leave to the field next Tuesday!!! So Crazy! I could have a real lesson next Tuesday night with a real family. Talking about their eternal salvation!! its so crazy! 

Mom, i hope i get your letter with the renovation layout, I dont know if it will make it to the MTC in time but there is a chance it could. We are having our final lessons with our instructors and my love for them is so strong because i have learned so much from them and their testimonies of our Savior Jesus Christ truly brought light into my life. The MTC is such a holy place. Second to the temple and our own homes. Leaving here carries a little weight because i will have to bring the spirit of the Lord with me into the homes of those i teach from now on. I am excited to attend a regular church sacrament meeting in a week and a half instead of just my little MTC zone, (which has been great but i´m ready to go). 

I am sending some pictures today! I saw my first wild parrots today and they are the first green birds that i have seen in my life. In one pic, i am just rolling in 4 reias (i just wanted to send a pic of the money), all the other pics are with my favorite instructor and fellow missionaries that i love. I am gonna try to get a pic with the chocolate filled churro today! I have been pulling the whole West side thing when my district talks about all of our different missions. We have some going to sao paulo north and some going to west so we joke about which is better! But the Brazilians dont understand the whole West side thing, making a "W" with your hand, because the word for west in Portuguese starts with an "O"! 

I just need to give a shout out to all my friends in the great peach state... Go Dawgs, Go Warriors, and Go COUGARS!!! I love you all! Especially you, mom and dad... start checking the mail in like 7 days ;) Everybody do something for somebody this week that Christ would do for them if he were there!! There is joy in the service of others! 

Com Amor,

Elder Sanchez

Happy 4th! Eu Amo Os Estados Unidos!

I´m so glad to have been born in the united states! The americans sang the national anthem the night of the 4th in front of all the Brazilians and it was powerful. It was the first time that i felt the spirit and patriotism at the same time! Even the Australian, Elder Mafi, in my district sang with us!

 Mom, i figured i should let you know what i bought at the temple store. I bought a Portuguese quad, with tabs, synthetic leather. They are nice. I´m glad to hear you guys are getting settled in. Not much is happening here. I´ll try to send some pics that i took last week. I haven't taken any this week bc we do the same thing everyday. The temple was awesome today as always.

 Elder Taylor, i cant believe you ate a frog... that is freakin nasty!

Dad, the MTC is like the cleanest place in the world, no joke, it is just that it is connected to the city plumbing system and that is how it gets dirty. I love the MTC but i am feeling ready to leave the classroom setting every day and finally do some real work. The food is as good as the Christensens, the MTC chefs are amazing! My new Brazilian exchange companion that i got to teach with twice this week went home today, I love that elder and i look up to him for his humility and submission to the Lord. You can see it in his eyes and he hopes to return in one month. He is an amazing teacher and i am grateful that i got to know him.

David, i cant watch your burning shirt vids because i´m on mtc computers... only one more p day here left!!!

 Mom, i love your testimony of the gospel. I still reflect on it almost every day and i know that you will bless tremendously the lives of your new seminary class (especially without having a super disruptive super senior in your class this year trying to teach lessons and stuff :)

It started getting warmer this week. No more blanket, i´m just sleeping with a sheet. I love the weather now. I watched a recording of a devotional from last year on tuesday and guess who i saw in the Provo MTC choir??? Macey Lane Smith!!! It was so cool. She was singing Be Still My Soul (nice to hear an english hymn) at a devotional with President Nelson! Felt the spirit so strong.

Two days ago i accidentally broke one of the sound buffer things on the wall in the auditorium. I thought that they opened up and so i went and pulled on it and accidentelly tore off a piece of the wall with it haha. It was so funny. they had it fixed within 2 hours. They have an amazing maitenance staff here.

Send me pics! sorry i cant send many from here, We can only take pics on pday and have to send them by going to a store. My companion is great, we had some challenges this week but we are closer now because of it. My new Brazilian roomates are awesome. One is from a family of 8 and is the only member, the other one is from a family of nine. The one from a family of 8 is from Fortaleza and he hopes that his mom will join the church while he is on his mission. Read the scripture Mosiah 2:41 and see how you can be a better example to those around you and also read about  the spiritual gifts in Moroni chapter 10! those are my faves from the week.

Good luck in Peru Porter, enjoy the CTM there. I love my district, I was placed in my district for a reason. I have learned important lessons about myself from each of my district members. I CANT WAIT FOR THE FIELD! The new mission presdent in my mission is just getting settled in and i can feel that the people are just ready to hear the gospel! I´m studying now in my personal study time how to recognize the spirit better.

I cant believe Travis is home! Have him send me an email and give me some inspirational words as i go into the field. I love Portuguese even though i sound like a 2nd grader when i speak, i´m understanding a lot more now too. Portuguese hymns can be beautiful too.

Dad how is work? Please send blueprints of the renovations. Dogs any bigger? David, what can i do to testify with more power? I feel the spirit but i think the isnt message getting the to investigator with a ton of power. Portuguese frase of the week, "Muito Lindo" mostly because i think about Grandma Blue saying "que lindo" to Dad everytime i hear it haha! Love you guys, Stay fly and listen to Michael Jackson´s Man in the Mirror for me alright! I´m gonna go buy some meat and a chocolate filled churro from a street vendor!

Elder Sanchez
PS (the pics you might recieve today are of me and my old roomates, and my previous brazilian exchange companion who reported to the field, and my favorite teacher in the world Irmá Correa w/ my district!!)

Fiz Proseletismo!!!!

Hey guys!
           Yes i got both letters. They take about 12 days to get to me. I was so happy to receive them. Dont tell Will but i dropped my little Jesus statue while moving something and he lost a hand. But he is still good, i mean the real Jesus still has a perfect body so its alright. We went teaching last saturday. Sooooo intimidating, but awesome. People think my broken portuguese is so funny and are more willing to talk to me just to here me screw up grammer than actually hear about the Book of Mormon. We were on Paulista Avenue (which is in my mission!!) And it is like the times square of Sao Paulo. There were a ton of embassys and large buildings. The city is very dirty but also very nice. Its a strange mix. I get to go again this upcoming wednesday and then again two saturdays from now. So stoked. No pics this week... disculpa. Got new Brazilian roomates, they are very quiet. I got to hear from the Area authority yesterday. Elder Aida Kaitis and he was awesome. I didnt understand all of it because i tried listenning without english translation but what i got out of it was awesome. My teachers are awesome. they know so much and have really strengthened my testimony. A bunch more of my favorite Brazilian missionary friends left this week. Elder Lima is my favorite. He really took me in and taught me how to teach in the language better every meal. I had a really difficult struggle with pride since i arrived. I wrote all about it in my journal, but to keep the story short. Pride is of the devil and it is such an easy avenue into contention. In fact all contention is caused  by pride. This week i worked so hard to humble myself. I have been blessed and the lord has softened my heart a little. I now get along with everybody in my district and love them so much and my favorite part is that i can feel the influence of the spirit more. I had an amazing mock lesson this week. I felt the spirit so strong while i testified and taught about Judgement Day in the Plan of Salvation and how Jesus Christ will be right beside us. I love the temple. It was awesome today.
           I realize how much i engraved Justin Timberlake songs into my head back home. In the shower, when i´m doing laundry or playing volleyball those tunes just break out in my head. When i get home i am gonna bump to all his stuff again in the marquis. I love hymns though. Portuguese hymns are great and powerful but i definitely have a special place in my heart for English hymns. My whole district loves to sings and we all harmonize so well. I LOVE it!! We do such a great job with the primary song "I feel my Savior´s love".
          So many people are going home sick from this MTC recently that this week the mission president set a rule to no longer shake hands or anything. Its really bad. Some sisters got rabies from a bat in their room at night, and a bunch of people are getting Chicmugnunga (i know i butchered that spelling). I´ll be alright though. Not too worried (dont worry about me getting sick dad). The american districts are the cleanist. I think i have bed bugs because i itch all the time and lotion is not getting rid of the bites. Only a couple weeks left, i´ll survive haha. I have gained 6 lbs... I´m trying to gain more. There is so much food here and i´m trying to get as much out of it as possible.
         I love the Book of Mormon. I have made a rule for myself to get over my mornings because, if you didnt know, sometimes i´m not the most enthusiastic morning person, I make myself smile right when i wake up and then i think about the fact that i am here because of the sacrifices made to preserve the Book of Mormon. (oh and last week i made a mistake, my mission president didnt translate the BOM, he translated the entire King James Version of the Bible from English to Portuguese. still pretty amazing). I gave my first portuguese talk this past sunday. It was about Prayer and the commandment we have to pray frequently and the promised blessings that come from that. It went well, i think i used correct grammer. I love how planned out missionary life is, i love planning my lessons with such detail, it just works with my personality.
          David, that scorpion stuff sounds Crazy! Here is a little portuguese phrase that means the same thing as "thats freakin awesome". It is "pegando fogo" which literally means "catching fire"! I use it all the time! That sounds intense hunting for them. Mom keep on bumping, thanks for the letters, dont worry about the charges on my card. Its all for the Lord! I ruined a shirt with ink... sorry mom. Dad love ya. Thanks for the letters again and the pics of the house and the dogs. They are so freaking cute. I´m just about out of time. The MTC is the same thing over and over. I love it but cant wait for the field. Only three more weeks!!! Oh and ya´ll enjoy the 4th of July, none of that stuff here! I will wear a patriotic tie or something. I talked to an elder that i met from my mission at the temple today and he said he obtained complete fluency in 4 months.
          I pray for all of you every night. I am so grateful for prayer... it has become my best friend. I want all of you to take the time to go and read the entire bible dictionary definition of prayer. The last two paragraphs changed my entire perspective on how i approach my daily communication with the Lord. He hears and answers our prayers. I know that Jesus Christ lives and i know that through him hearts can be changed and souls can be brightened instantly!

Eu amo voces,
Elder Sanchez