10/19/10

Dear family, Well, i made it another week without killing my companion, i still dont understand a word of portuguese, and i got a haircut mop job that makes me look like a russian homesless man, but... thats a mission right. So, i was looking at some of the pictures from the airport that day, and i was amazed that i was smiling in most of them.. i will never forget the feeling of feeling like i AM going to throw up for about 6 hours. in talking with people here its been established i had the worst possible departure situation known to man. }To answer some questions. I will have no way of knowing about my departure stuff until literally the day before i leave. its crazy. i only have 1 p day left here!! }Yeah i would probably stop mailing stuff here by next week... but anything they get here theyll just send to my mission so its not tha tbig of a deal. Christmas stuff.. i will write a letter. i need to think about it. but i would love a photo album of some sort, and american candy you can stuff in, and a missionary journal. like, a real one. i write in a notebook... Ugh, i alwasy forget questions once im here. its stressful..Dads- yeah i was informed a few days before moake arrived, ha, everyone has pretty much been on high alert for the name moake for the last 7 weeks. so i found out probably before he did. and no, he is literally with me 24/7. its sweet. we have a couple different missions in our destrict. about provo... seriously, its a joke. i have NO idea what they teach down there.. but its not portuguese. thats all ill say. that was crazy to hear steves trial is another year... wow. Let me just take a mintue and talk to my best friend, and my brother... adam lewis. The email today made me cry thinking about how proud i would have been of your talk, and your time it is to finally serve. i thought about you all week ad, i pray for you daily, and i am so excited for you. i love you more than you could ever know, and i know you will be blessed this week. good luck. im proud of you. Ugh, a mission is so wierd. i talk to people that have been here like 2 weeks and they say names of moveis that im like wait, what? ive never heard of that... you really like think that nothing changes since you left, its like i put you guys on pause and everything should be the same, but its not. wierd. That said HA, braves. just kidding brit. i owe you ten bucks. my dear father will get that to you, he still owes me ten from the adam lewis wweight bet. So one thing that has definately improved with scotty is gym time. us and elder blackhurst have had a lot of fun playing some real basketball for the first time in a long time... Its wierd having him here though, brings back a whole flood of memories of friends..and ive realized that i need to be a lot more tolerant of some of the wierdos i meet here.. at some point you just have to accept that not everyone is as cool as your friends.. Another thing i realized is how LITTLE i know about the gospel.. weve gotten into a few deep deep doctrinal discussions this week and it hurts my head... i literally had no idea some things. its crazy. this world is nuts, and the next one is even crazier. The humidity is REALLY kicking up. we all noticed it this week. it just feels like you have like water on top of you ALL the time... i noticed my gum started turning into like jello... no worries i still eat it. thanks for the gift card too di! too much money but thanks so much! Bad thing this week was my knee is bugging again... i can NOT kneel.. its annoying. We got proselyting again this friday, except this one, in the centro of sao paulo... not gonna lie, dont love proselyting. one of my least favorite things to do.. but it will be really cool to see the center of sao paulo. Oh and i dont know if i ever answered you di i do not care if letters are typed or handwritten.. frankly i dont really care about the hand written and i get more info in typed. This week we taught a lot of lessons... i like teaching. i was frustrated though because literally probalby 5 brazilians asked if i spoke spanish.. i had no idea but apparently im not speaking much portuguese.. i insert a lot of spanish words. this language crap is difficult. I was so happy to hear and see about cole. congratulations buddy. im exited for you. ill never forget that oppoutunity to go through with nana and wayne. Well.... im sorry i know this letter was extremely jumbled. ad, i love ya man. i have another letter on the way. know how many ´people you have rooting for you. fam, i love you so much. 2 more weeks! nuts. -elder allred