Bom Dia Todo Mundo! Good Day Everybody!

Last night we recieved the phonecall from the assistents! I will stay in Jardim Catanduva and my companion will too! My companion was assigned District Leader! So i will have to accompany him to the trainings and baptismal interviews. This is so exciting. I didnt want to leave this area anyway, i love the members here!

Not much crazy happened this week. The weather was wierd... freezing in the beginning of the week and in the upper 80s in the end of the week. I was talking to Brother Rinaldo in the bishopric and he said in the south of brasil it can get up to 55C (131F) during the summer and then super cold in the winter! But not in sao paulo, i think he said generally the heat stays a little over 100F here during the summer. Cant wait for the heat! I have my bug spray and my water bottle and ... pronto (ready).

I dont have a lot of time left today to write. I love all you guys back home. Especially you mom and dad and david too. Happy Birthday big boy! 20 years. for the next two weeks you will be two years older than me... parabens... but its only two weeks. Little brother always catches up! remember that! My spiritual thought of the week is the importance of expressing love too your family and those you live with (in my case, my companion). It is amazing what a difference there is in the days when we respect eachother as much as we can and joke around and work hard together. Its all in the little things like saying good morning! Jesus Christ said in the Sermon on the Mount "Blessed are all the peacemakers, for they shall be called the Children of God". Love all you guys! I love Brasil too. Happy Birthday to my brother, best friend, example, fellow missionary, and fellow Jedi Master, Elder David Sanchez!

Com Amor,

Elder Sanchez

Even though graffiti isn't illegal, I guess this is because it's a gang sign. I have no idea what it says. 

Cars drive around with loud speakers on them selling things out the back like eggs. I have a lot of the recorded advertisements memorized.

Concrete is everywhere and these fenced in playing area's are all around. It is very common to have a soccer ball come out into the street because the fences are broken.

homemade flower pot, three old tires filled with dirt :)

my apartment building

Començou chuvar e não parou! (It started raining and it didnt stop!) Forest Gump

August 22, 2016

So it has been raining the past couple days. And everything is wet, its still winter here so its cold rain. This drives people of the streets so contacting slows down a little bit. Spent a lot of time in the favela this week. I taught a lesson this week to a Boy, 15 years old, named Gabriel. It was great, he was so funny. He got all nervous when we told him we have a prophet today and invited him to church. He thought that the prophet would be at church and that when they would meet that the prophet wouldnt accept him haha. He was so nervous about this but luckily we were able to explain a little more and take away the fear.

I cant drink the water from the spicket here, but i learned why this week. At the plant where it is cleaned, the water comes out just as clean as in the United States, the reason it is undrinkable is because of the journey it takes. The path to houses isnt very clean but one day this past week i drank an entire cup of the water and survived. It was offered to me by a less active member and wasnt gonna turn him down haha. I (passei mal) passed bad  but really means didnt go through the system well for one day if ya know what i mean haha.

I am convinced that being a mother is similar and more tiring than being a missionary. We arrived one night at the bishops house to help move some boxes and the bishops wife looked more tired and beat up from the day than we did haha. Like mothers we have to descern the needs of our investigators by the Spirit. Alma 12:7 speaks about this when Alma and Amulek were teaching Zeezrom, "Now when Alma had spoken these words, Zeezrom began to tremble more exeedingly, for he was convinced more and more of the power of God; and he was also convinced that Alma and Amulek had a knowledge of him, for he was convinced that they know the thoughts and intents of his heart; for power was given unto them that they might know of these things according to the spirit of prophecy." I have witnessed this power before in a few lessons. Not by knowing the thoughts of the person, but by the expression and the spirit. When i say something that i did not plan to say, inspired by the spirit and the person looks at me with a face like i know something that they didnt share with me before. This is the gift of prophecy in this scripture. Similarly when a mother knows her child is lying or is struggling without needing to hear it. All of this is an inspired gift of the Spirit for the progression of the children of God unto salvation given unto those who are worthy in the moment they need it! This gift is awesome because in so many cases i dont understand completely the life situations that people explain to me in portuguese and this helps me when i need it. 

This is the last week of the transfer... so sad, i will know next sunday night if i will go or stay or recieve a new companion! I want to stay and keep my trainer haha. We work so well together. He is awesome and i have learned so much from him. We have so much fun practicing teaching with one another and think alike in some form while we actually teach. But change is always good and i´ll accept whatever the Lord has in store.

We are teaching this guy, Alexandre, and he is super cool. He is buff, learning english and speaks very well (i´m helping him understand the many meanings of the word "get", is a security guard, plays guitar, has a wife to be, has a sweet house, and is open to recieve our message. I really hope he progresses and prays to know for himself. Other investigators are doing well. Right know we have 4 strong investigators where we truly see potential.

I love hearing from all of you. I wish i had more time to respond. I read basically all that recieve. Love you guys and i will respond when i get a chance. Brasil took the Gold in soccer! Brasilians went crazy! it was great! I am proud of my American medalists! I am proud to be an American! Brasilians always say that they wish they had the patriotism and pride that our country has! Keep it up ;)

Com Amor,

Elder Sanchez

p.s. I have been eating a lot of tapioca, it is a root that is ground. You put it in a pan without oil or anything and until it sticks together. then my favorite way to eat it is with condensed milk. Its like a roll up pancake basically you can fill it with whatever you want. I will bring some home. Yall dont have it in the states :)

3 Letters!!! and lots of pics!

in the streets of Brazil

Graffiti is not against the law here

Casa Trouso (Treasure House)  August 1st 

 This week was just amazing! So much. I´ll begin with an activity that we did for the ward on saturday night. We hid clues all over the church and families had to translate the clues from these easy made up languages and in the end there was a message about how we all need to love eachother and work together. It was sweet.

     Next, Our freezer was completely frozen over. I´m trying to upload photos of it now but this computer is slower than dirt. So we let it thaw, to speed up the process we used the iron to melt the huge block of ice away from the walls of the freezer! It was legit!.

     The slang is so funny. To say "Hey dude" you say "Aí Mano" and then you can say "Esta Ligado (You excited or lit)" and then you can say "Passa (pass the vibe on to me)" Its so funny. There is this one member and he literally just teaches me Giria (slang) during almoço. We went to the favela in our area! On our area map, it says over the favela, " You will die", but we had a service project there and so we went anyway. We helped a member put mocca on the walls. All the houses and structures here are made of brick and concrete. So in order to paint you have to put this coat of putty stuff on the walls. It was legit. You could tell that i am an american and have never done it before because in the time it took me to finish an area the size of a door, my companion had done an entire wall. But i got pretty proficient by the end! Then we left the favela. We arent supposed to teach in there because its just a giant drug trade with prostitutes. If we need too, we will. Right now the favelas in São Paulo are the worst in Brazil because the ones in Rio are under police control for the olympics.

     So we had two strange experiences this week. First, we were running home one night (we always run home becuase we are always almost late) and barely anyone was on the street. This man was walking towards us with a bag and then two motorcycles came up the road towards us too. As soon as they reached the man, they slammed on the breaks and whipped around. Immediately to draw a gun on him. The man put his hands up. Took me a minute to realize that those men were police. I just kept running but now that i think about it, my companion and i ran directly in the line of fire if anything were to go wrong. Its all good though, the lord is with us. But now i know that the police here seriously dont mess around. The other strange experience was during a lesson. This 24 year-old girl just pulled down her tank top and started breastfeeding her child while we were talking about the 10 commandments. I had no idea how to react, so i just stayed calm, continued teaching and stared at my companion until she was done. 

     I am working out a ton every morning. Thirty minutes in St. Mary´s Wellness Center 2.0, which consists of a floor, my dumbells (two 2 liter soda bottles filled with water), and my squat bar (an empty stove gas tank). Its the best gym in the world, i´m getting torn. Today i am going to try to make bread for the first time in my life and with a gas stove. I´m getting all sorts of recipes from members of cool fruit shakes and food i can make on p day. Mainly because i´m sick of microwaving eggs for every meal and washing it down with water. We´ll see how it goes. I´ll take pics.

     So the work in this area is generally difficult. The people in the ward have a lot of problems, there are a ton of less actives, a ton of calling slots that are empty in the auxiliaries, and plenty of recent converts that dont have a responsibilty, and plenty of strong members that slack off. I have never been to a more irreverant sacrament meeting. Every two minutes an adult gets up to do something. They dont have someone assigned to play piano so starting next week... its me! yay... but i am gonna need to find some time to practice. Asside from the ward, the people in the baixo (named section of the city) work an average of 5 days on, 1 day off. This is problematic with church attendance and appointments. But we find ways to work around it. We are the busiest at night when everybody gets home from work. São Paulo truly is the working business center of Brasil.

     We are having so much success though, our prayers are being answered. The few investigators we have are praying, reading, and trying to attend church. I love the Familia Souza. They are a family that we have and they are just diving into the scriptures and want so badly to know what God wants for them. The father of the house, Marcillo, prayed for the first time. He has already read the book of mormon up to Alma, but hasnt prayed until then. He prayed for the first time with us and it was amazing. The spirit was so strong. Always pray everybody. God is our literal Father in heaven and always wants to hear from us. There are many blessings that depend upon us asking for them. Dont be afraid to pray. It is just a conversation with your loving Father.

     I read a scripture this week, it was actually shared with me in the CTM by an elder in my district but i have been really thinking about it and how to apply it personally and with the people i come in contact with and teach. 

In the New Testament, Mark 15:34 it says, 

    "And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

     Jesus Christ had to be completely alone and seperated from the Father in order to know our pains and sufferings and how we feel when we are alone. I testify that Jesus Christ knows you indiviually. He knows what you want, he knows what you need, and he is waiting for you to submit your will to his though obedience to the commandments, so that he can bless you and fill you with love. Not love of the world, but the love of God, an indescribable, unending love.

     Family and friends, i miss you guys and i love you guys, but there is no better thing that i could be doing right now. I have already had some of the strongest spiritual experiences on this mission and i have seen so many ways that i need to improve. At the end of this week, i reach my 2 month mark. We are gonna by a pizza that is bordered with chocolate because they do that out here... Oh heck yes! I hope my pics make it this week. Fam... did you get my letter from the CTM? How is summer everybody? winter here is not that bad ;)

Com Amor,

Elder Sanchez

Me and my companion

my apartment

I figured it out!     August 8, 2016

The problem with the pics is that they are huge. This camera is so good and the computer is so slow. So my photos will come little by little. I have a lot. I am trying to send them right now.

This week was amazing! The more we work, the more we are blessed. The Lord looks out for his missionaries. Right now we are implementing a plan that we made to get members more involved in the work. We assigned a member to every investigator. I hope this works out at least a little.

Beans beans and beans... so much rice and beans, every meal. I like them a lot but i dont know how brazilians can go a lifetime with rice and beans everyday.

 We had a strange experience last night. We were walking to our apartment from the other side of our area and we saw a small fire on the side of the sidewalk along the fence of a junkyard. The problem though was that there is a ton of bamboo both living and dead in the junkyard and the fire was beginning to spread. Somebody lit it and left. As we got closer we realized it was not a wood fire but with other stuff. We didnt want a huge fire to burn down our area so we ran to the closest house and luckily a lady was opening the door as we arrived. We asked for a bucket of water. She got it for us and we ran back. There was a fence separating us and the spreading fire but i swear the Lord helped my comp fling the water because we put out all the fire that was spreading. There was still the original fire on the sidewalk that we needed to take care of. We poured water on it but it wouldnt go out. We started spreading the burning contents around. The contents were a bunch of papers and socks in tin pans and they wouldnt go out becuase they were saturated in alchohol. Obviously somebody really wanted to destroy this stuff. We went and got another bucket of water and after seriously drenching everything it was done and good. We returned the bucket, thanked the lady, and set up a time to teach her the gospel haha. We left the stuff on the side walk and havent been back to see what it is but i´m glad we found the fire when we did.

The First 12 Weeks (training program for new missionaries) is working. Every day we study a topic about teaching and in that same day we always have an experience that we can apply what we learned. Its pretty cool. We really focused on Love this past week and really listening to that concerns of those we teach. It made a huge difference even in contacting.

We are helping a guy quit smoking right now. Addictions are such a difficult thing. To start my companion presented this challenge to him to demonstrate how bad smoking is and he agreed to it. We had him break two cigarettes into boiling water. Saturated the water in tabacco juice. and he had to drink it after straining the tobacco. He grabbed the cup and sipped and spit it out immediately. And then he stood there staring at the cup and i could feel how bad he wants to stop and how much this addiction weighs on him. I have so much love for him. Then he tried again and again and again. Everytime he gagged and spit it out. After he rinsed out his mouth i shared with him Alma 7:11-12 about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how Jesus Christ suffered for us according to the flesh. He physically felt exactly what we feel and that if he relys on Jesus Christ, reads the book of Mormon every day, and prays. He will overcome his addiction. I hope he relys on the Lord. We are going to help him as much as we can.

I love all you guys back home. I am so happy that i figured out the photo situations. It was actually really getting on my nerves haha. I want some Olympic updates about the USA. There is so much Brazil pride here, i need a little Donald Trump/Michael Phelps to cope with it haha. Reality, I love Brazil, it is an awesome place. Jesus Christ lives and loves us. His love has the power to change our hearts, relationships, attitudes, and actions according to his will and our faith. 

Elder Sanchez

Area map

Iron to thaw freezer

Saint Mary's Wellness Center 2.0

Giraffe for Mario

Feliz Dia dos Pias     August 15, 2016

First thing, It is Fathers day in Brazil, yesterday! Love you dad! Everybody being outside celebrating made contacting a little easier haha! Second thing, My mailing situation. Send all to the mission office, it is how my mission handles it. Mom, you sent a box. Thank you but i cant get it until i pay 241 reais, (80 bucks apprx) I withdrew all from my personal account that i have. Dont worry. I´m gonna pay for it today and retrieve it. The Correiro (mailing company here) charge based upon what is inside. I dont know what you sent that made it so much but just keep that in mind. If you send another box, back up my personal account with enough to cover on my end. I do have one request... My birthday is coming up and i would love my spiderman pillow case. Or any pillow case, i cannot find one or a store with one in my area haha but i really want one. If you cant find my spiderman pillow case, then a star wars one would be pretty legit as well. But this is all i want for my birthday... pillowcase:)

Mom i would love the recipe for your pancakes and brownies. All the brazilians are asking me to make american pancakes and brownies for them. Just because i tried making bread once, I am now a professional cook in the eyes of the members haha. Not even close, i have now idea how i pulled off making that half alright bread. 

I keep hearing about how well america is doing in the olympics!! GO USA, I heard Phelps took the silver... but our gymnastic team is killing it? Seriously the members dont like when i bring up the olympics because we are doing so well. What are the numbers? How many golds, silvers, and bronze of USA vs. Brazil? Which country in the world is in the lead overall? What events are we dominating?

The work in this area is picking up. I´m getting to know the ward a lot better and the area in general a lot better. We taught one family that came to church and is on date for baptism. Antonio, Camila, and their mom Maria. Their mom loves us missionaries so much that she always tries to make some amazing food when we go over to teach. I dont mind haha. I love working with the recent converts, We have three and they are all so awesome. They are all in the range of 22-28 years old and i love teaching them. One of them is a fighter and his academy shut down so he is looking for a new academy to sponser him in competitions. He is in charge of our Gospel principles class too. Which is so awesome. I love Gospel prinicples, it is cool to talk about the basic concepts of the gospel. There is so much power in the simple meaning of principles like Charity, Service, and Responsibility.

That is cool that he has an accent. I am not even close to an accent right now. Every one says that i look like a brazilian until i open my mouth haha. Oh, if any brazilian sends me a friend request, please accept it!:) The Family of the Bishop wants to see my life haha. 

Dad i cant believe you bought a truck! Parabens!! The kitchen looks fantastic. Mom i´m glad you have a good class. If they have any questions about mission life, have them go ahead and shoot me an email or ask through you. I am recieving porters emails. He is in the perfect world of the MTC right now where every investigator gets baptized haha. I do enjoy reading his stuff. He met Maddie. Winter is finally coming to an end! After what seems like 9 long months of winter. I had winter in the states and left to winter here haha. But with the gradually brightening days, the bugs are creeping out too. Mosquitoes!! Gotta lovem!! Okay so i stepped in dog poop this week. Well, i step in dog poop every week, it is almost impossible not too at least one time per week. But this week was the worst kind of stepping in dog poop and i didnt notice until i was in the house haha. Geez i spent like 15 minutes cleaning up haha. I love the stray dogs here actually they have some funny habits and are commical to watch. One investigator has this puppy and the little devil chewed up my hand. I didnt realize that his bites were actually penetrating skin haha. Its just a flesh wound, it will heal! He is so cute though, his name is ralph! 

This week we have multi-zone meetings with the President!! I´m so excited, i love any meeting with the President! And its nice to talk with other missionaries about their areas and such. We have actually had some pretty hilarious lessons this week. One, i spent 10 minutes teaching the restauration to this old lady and we looked eachother in the eyes the whole time. I thought i did fantastic, my portuguese was on point and i felt the spirit. And then like most of our older investigators, after we ask a question, they tell a story about their life completely off topic (usually about some estranged relative that was in the hospital for some serious illness) before they answer haha. She did just that but by the time it came that we asked again "Who is Joseph Smith?" She look me straight in the eyes and said "Quem é?" (Who is that?).... oh my gosh, i had to hold back from laughing. We literally taught and explained about his whole life minutes earlier. She was clueless. We closed with a prayer and left before she started another story about how her 2nd cousin got sick one time haha. She is a sweet old lady and does have a strong conviction of Jesus Christ in her life.

Love all you guys,

Elder Sanchez

license to teach

First time making bread

Homemade bread covered with hot dogs!

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