Well, missions are still hard. Haha. hello family. yes, it bothers me as much or more than you that i cant use tabs or enters. maybe di you can seperate it into paragraphs so its easier to read?? first off, ive been dying to know all week about leyla! i really thought she was gonna be here. chels, i pray for you and her every single night. im so excited for you. she will be beautiful. ha its almost kind of good to hear byu lost. i was dying to think the year im gone they have a killer year and go 12-0 or something! haha. thats tight about wyatts coach! i know SOOO many people from fortaleza. i swear everyone is from there. it is RIDICULOUSLY hot there, and its way up in the northeast, so its pretty different from sao paulo, and WAY different from porto alegre. ive become quite the scholar on brazilian citites, and i already know sao paulo so well. ive seen tons of it. we get the chance to walk through and drive through much of the city. its a crazy place... icant even tell ya. its sad though, ive seen unbelievable poverty. youll see like gigantic high rises and big buildings everywhere, and then just like right in the middle HUGE sections of just slums... not to mention people everywhere on the grass with tents and all their clothes.. anywhere where theres a bathroom youll find that. but next to the slums today i saw like 10 square acres of people literally living in boxes. i was heartbroken. it seems like they all bundle together and rely on each other for moral support, only way to get through. its so sad.
this place is hard. a mission is hard. but i love the weekends.. its funny because the things that i used to absolutely hate doing.. are pretty much my favorite now. (firesides, devotionals, personal study) sat and sunday are great, we have a devotional and a fireside, and its like a complete re charge. spiritually and physically. its what keeps me going, to hear the great stories of others that came before me. i told you a little bit about the last one in a letter i sent (two on the way youll have to let me know about how long it takes, my guess is 10 days, sucks. really bad) but he was kicked out of his house to serve a mission. anyways he said he came home with 40 rejas (30 bucks) and didn~t know where he was going to sleep that night. i was immediately overwhelmed with how blessed i am. between the poverty i see and stories like that i realize how much i have, not to mention a family that i could not love any more if i tried.
its unfortunate that i cant take my camera outside the ctm. because i would love to show you this city. but we cant for obvious reasons. theres no way we would hang on to it... and i cant send pictues while im here, so we may ahve to wait till im in the field. bummer. cause this place is pretty cool. youd think the ctm would be in like a nice area....nope. anywhere that doesnt have a gate and a security system, which, any somehwat respectable building does, is ridiculously vandalised and tagged beyond recognition. but theres some fun stores. this one we call the tie lady, sells these sick watches and ties and soccer jerseys ,for like nothing. im buying a watch today. think ill wait on the jerseys. porto alegre ones will be cheap in the actual city.
my teachers are legit. i grow to love them more and more every day. irmao borges was born in fortaleza, served in menaus. getting married in jan. irmao veras was born in sao paulo, served in florianapolis. just barely got home. haha he was a serious tagger (grafiti dad.) before he left, and his girlfriend is 17. hes hilarious.
on the bad news. my knee has been bugging me. i have never been able to kneel since the lake powell thing, but i thought it was just a bruise and would go away. but now its bugging me to walk. so im gonig to go see the doctor tomorrow and have him take a look at it. cause it hasnt returned to size. so we wills see. ill keep you updated. im starting to love the poeple around me. i seriously love brazilians. and i couldnt tell you enough about my roomate if i tried. its funny how we can barely understand a word each other says, but yet we can sit for an hour and just talk, and laugh. he loves slipknot, red hot chili peppers, and killing people. with all sorts of weapons. (hes a little bit insane) but all brazilians are really. they cannot get enough of me. they all come up and touch my face and my hair. their standing joke is ohhhhhh bonito gravato!! which, literally translated means beautiful tie. but i think its slang for pretty boy. ive told them im from utah like ten times, but they think im a surfer from california, from my quicksilver shirt.
anywyas, sad to hear about byu. wish you had news about my car. wyatt, if you get any addresses from facebook email them to me. im missing a lot. if i have time in just a sec im going to write a note to scott, and have you post it on dear elder? p.s. you should try that once, im curious to see if it works here. i love you all more than you could know. these last two weeks have been the HARDEST ones of my life. and its not close. but im starting to see the love a man can get from the work. im hoping time will start to pass, cause it hasnt yet. we~ll see. i love you. chels, i pray for you. ash, looking forward to your letter. i miss all 3 of your boys. -elder allred
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