November 24, 2008 Natal- A New Comp

Hey family! Well it was so good to get all your e-mails today! I loved it. It was definitely one of those days I needed it. This week has been a tough one for me out here. Mainly because of my new companion. haha I know I know I need to learn to love him and I am really trying but he has been making it kind of hard. it’s all good though imp hoping this week will get alot better. Well elder Salines left for Joao Pessoa but I'm glad you sent a ring for him. haha I'm glad it came so fast too! I will be able to get it to him pretty easy. Well this past week was good but our baptism with Leo fell again and he decided he doesn’t want to be baptized in our church which really sucked. But he has his free choice and we did what we could. but elder Lohman stuck around too by the way which I was so grateful for because he helps me out a little bit with where certain houses are and stuff like that. that and it is so nice to talk to him because we are very similar and it’s like having a friend to talk to. Elder Pereira is good; he just got called a senior so I'm his first junior companion. He has 7 months so he is only two months ahead of me. He is letting the whole senior companion thing get to his head a little bit, but I'm just letting him do his thing right now. He keeps saying how the whole work and everything we are doing needs to change. I don’t know what he has planned? haha we will probably find out this week. elder Sanchez is the new elder in the house and he is pretty laid back. he doesn’t talk a ton but he is pretty cool, me and him like to talk music. haha one thing that really is hard with elder Pereira is that he talks so weird and says things in weird ways and really quietly. so I will just ask him to say it again and then he gets all frustrated and stuff. but it’s not just me either elder Lohman can’t understand him either. so I'm hoping I can get used to how he speaks. but he is good and I'm hoping this week will go well for us and we can baptize some people. We have found a couple young guys and 2 families to teach. I'm hoping next week will go well. haha I'm getting really excited for Christmas! it is going to be great, nothing compared to home but it should be really good. it kind of sucks though because right now it is summer here and everyday it is blazing hot! I miss the snow. but there is not alot new, just the work. haha but it is going good, I'm speaking well and understanding almost everything. so I love the e-mail pictures that you send me they are pretty sweet. elder Lohman wants you to e-mail his mom and tell her how to do it, haha so lohmank1@k12tn.net is her e-mail, 865-8590583 is her phone number too so her name is Kelly and he wonders if you could explain it to her. haha if not it’s all good. but anyway this thanksgiving will definitely be different for me. it will probably just be a normal day at work. but it sounds like things there are going to be different too. I always loved thanksgiving haha just eat and watch football. it was great. I am definitely having football withdrawals. but today is 5 months exactly from the day I left home so only one more month and I get to call. haha the plan to not say goodbye sounds like a good one too. but right now I don’t know where I will be calling but I think it’s just for 40 minutes so I was pretty bummed that I can’t talk for like an hour or 2 haha. but it’s all good I know that following the rules is important. so I'm sure I will have more time to get it figured all out too. like where I will be and what we are going to do. but I love all the news and the pictures and stuff, it is so nice to be kept up to date a little bit. I feel so out of the world, like I don’t know anything that is going on. but there is not alot new here but I'm hoping our allowance will come tomorrow because we are all out of money and food. we have eaten everything in the house. haha but it should come tomorrow for sure so no worries I'm not dying out here k? I had enough but my comp showed up with like nothing so I have been helping him out too. I can feel all your prayers for me out here and I know the lord is blessing you guys and me too. it’s really tough out here and there are alot of days I don’t think I can keep doing this, but I know he lifts me up and helps me just keep plugging along. dad I hope all goes well at work and I’m glad you sacrificed one day so you could enjoy the rest of the month. it will be worth it. so I am pretty jealous of the Goodman’s by the way. I want a cruise so bad right now it’s not even funny. haha how about a cruise when I get back? huh? haha think about it you know you want to! well mom how’s the knee? 100 percent yet? I hope it is getting alot better and that you are almost back to full health. but I am almost out of time so I gotta run. I love you all so much and hope you all have an awesome week! you are the best family ever. I love you love ty

November 17, 2008 Transfers!

hey hey hey! well I hope all is going well there! Its sounds like it has been a good week. haha I can’t believe you guys sent 4 packages! I hope it wasn’t too expensive! but I am so excited you have no idea. I am still enjoying my package from 2 weeks ago. thank you so much again. well I guess I’ll let you know that this week was transfers. I bet you want to know what happened huh? ... well I am staying here for another transfer but elder Vieira left. my new companion is elder Perera. he is from Sao Paulo and I only met him a couple hours ago so I don’t know alot about him but I will let you know next week when I know a little more. haha it should be good. I am pretty excited for this transfer to come. It should be fun. I wish I had some more time to write today but we are kind of rushed. but this transfer should be good. we have spent all day at the bus station waiting for new elders to arrive. it has been kind of boring. but I will write another missionties this week that you should get. I found out the package I want to send is pretty expensive here. they don’t have a flat rate box. its 50 reais a kilo. so I will try to send some light stuff. haha maybe some photos a tape and something else. haha but anyway this last week was good but we didn’t baptize anyone. so it has been kind of frustrating but with a new elder we will see how it goes. our group is pretty small which sucks but we will work on that alot. we have been trying really hard. well things are still good here. not alot new but this next week will be an adventure. it’s always fun to get used to a new comp. we had zone conference this week which was good. I didn’t know alot of people but that’s ok. it was a good conference and we learned alot. pres fernandes is a really cool guy but he loves to release people. haha but I learned so much from him at zone conference. he is doing what needs to be done here. well haha I wish I had more time to write. my e-mail is going to suck. I’m sorry. but I will make it up with mission ties and more info there when I have more time. thanks for the updates and especially the pictures. they were really cool! haha you guys are the best! I love you all so much and hope this week is a good one! I love ya tons. love ty
ok I found a little more time. haha I’m going to just write a little more while I still can. but sorry about the ring thing.im kind of retarded and wrote 19.5 when actually it is 9.5. haha a normal person finger. but yeah it’s the gold and silver. that would be really cool. maybe one for me too. haha just so I can have another. haha sorry. but just so you guys know you’re always in my prayers and in my thoughts. I love you all so much and hope everything is going good there. the mission out here is hard work but I’m trying to find joy in it whenever I can. the last week has been a little stressful but I can always feel your prayers and I can push through the hard times and just keep working. I know this next transfer is going to be good and I hope this next week will go fast till I can talk to you again. haha Christmas is coming fast! I’m getting pretty excited for that phone call home when I can just talk with you all. it’s crazy that it will be 6 months when I call. well I am going to head now. if there is anything I can write about more or in more detail let me know. I’ll let you know how our baptisms go this week and hopefully we can find some more people to teach. haha well I love you all and I can feel your love for me! you’re all the best! love you. ty

November 10, 2008 A Great Week in Natal

hello family! well it has been a great week this week here in natal. first of all because I got a package and a nice stack of letters! haha it has been so nice. so I got the package with the pictures and the tape and all the candy. it was so funny all the other elders that I live with were so happy! we took pictures and everything it was sweet. so it has been a great week and I was so happy to get all the stuff. the package was awesome so thank you all so much! I loved it! well I heard about the elections, that’s kinda crazy. we will just have to see how he does. everyone here is so happy about it. they all say how much the us affects the whole world and how good that Obama is going to be. but it’s easy to say for them. haha but when people ask about it I just say I hope he does good things for us. but things here are awesome. we have our last week of this transfer coming up so it will be fun. I know we have one baptism and possibly one more. but I’m happy that we have one. we will have zone conference this week so it’s possible I might receive something more if there is anything waiting for me. and I have a feeling my comp is going to be transferred so who knows what’s going to happen with me? I kind of like it here so I wouldn’t mind staying. but something new is always fun. but we will just have to see. hopefully nothing crazy like last time. so this week we had some adventures. first of all we had a little cockroach problem out in front by our gate. so we grabbed some bug spray and a couple matches. haha it was a hand held flamethrower. it was hilarious. so we were out there burning cockroaches, we found a scorpion too so we burned him too. haha so now we’re are cockroach free with just a couple burn marks on the floor. they should wash off. haha so that was fun. what else? hmm well we had ward conference this week, it was really good. I love our bishop here. bishop johnas. he is awesome and he is really missionary minded and likes to help us out. it is so awesome having a bishop that wants to work with us. there are benefits too for him, if we can get like 3 more men in satellite, we get to build another church here in planalto. which is closer for alot of members and closer to our house. satellite is a further away and alot harder to work. but it should be good. bishop is going to work on some referrals for us. we have a family that we are teaching that is doing really good and reading the bom everyday we just need to get them to go to church and decide to be baptized. I think they will it’s just really hard to find time to teach them because they both work till like after 830 so it’s tough. but we will get em! haha well I loved the tape and it was so good to hear all your voices and stuff. my tape is over a long period of time so I’m sorry the first half I was kind of a complainer but I am doing so well now. I am really happy lately and I’m finding alot of joy in the work. they language is coming along great and I’m understanding almost everything. so it has been such a huge blessing and I know alot of prayers have been answered to help me get to this point so fast. well ill try to remember some questions from the tape and other stuff too. dad we still drink a ton of guarana here, it is like the staple for me. haha they have fanta too orange and grape. and açai is good but I don’t have it alot anymore. there’s not alot of places to get it and it’s really expensive. but what else. our house is alot bigger here. it is really nice and I’m really enjoying it right now. it has been really hot this week but what’s new huh? haha I miss the snow but I’m trying to enjoy the sand while I’m here. mom sorry I sent home a sad picture. I will try to send home some more today that are happy. elder salines says he knows how to send photos easier. so hopefully it will work. it has been crazy how things have kind of changed in my mind. I’m just finding joy in the little things we do every day now and now that I can just talk to people it’s so sweet. like the other day I talked to a guy on the bus for like 20 min. I think I told you already about him. well I saw him again yesterday and it was so cool just to say hi and recognize him and have him remember me too. it was funny. well our ward here isn’t real big but the members help us alot and it’s good. we eat lunch in with the members and we eat breakfast and a little dinner in the house if we want. usually it’s something very simple and easy but some nights we will all chip in and make a hamburger, it’s a decked out hamburger though, haha or something like that. so we eat well no worries. the one thing I really want to find is a pull up bar. but no luck yet. well I wish I could tell you how good things are, but I’m sure you know. haha I love hearing that things are good at home. sounds like a tough week for pg. I was hoping they would get to rice eccles again. but they had a good season. it’s weird that it’s over already huh? haha time always goes fast when there are good times. but I hope mk~s jaw will get feeling better. that’s no good. and mom 112 degrees is kicking butt. haha keep it up. don’t get down on yourself. I’m so glad that things are going good there. sounds like the cold is really starting to move in. kind of fun. I’m just trying to stay a little cool. the mosquitos have quit biting so much but I am still sweating like crazy. I think it’s a good thing though, it means I’m burning alot of calories and I won’t gain weight. well what else is new this week? not much just getting ready to wrap this transfer up this week and work hard trying to find some more people to teach. it’s pretty tough here. seems like everyone has already talked with us. but it’s ok we will find some more. so I know this probably doesn’t have everything I wanted to say but I just want you all to know that I am loving things right now. and though some days are hard things here are really going good. mom. I think I have my smile back again and I’m finding ways to just goof around and have some fun with the other elders. me and elder salines have alot in common and talk alot. he is really cool, he asked me to ask you if you could buy another ctr ring and he will pay me for it. I said I would ask you and if you could buy one and send it in the next package that would be awesome. don’t worry I will keep it on the down low so we don’t become an order cataloge. but it would be cool if you could, but it’s the size 19.5 same as mine and it’s the black ring with a gold cursive ctr that is in the middle. and the ctr actually can come out. so if you could just check that out for me. haha he is asking about it alot. but anyway I’m finding that the time is passsing really quickly and that I just want to work hard and baptize more and more. haha its cool how you can really get lost in the work. I won’t lie there are still alot of things I miss but I am just trying to love what I have right now. but I am going to go for now and try to send another e=mail with photos. so I love you all so much. have an awesome week. love you tons ty

November 3, 2008 New Baptisms!

Ok well I tried connecting some photos to this e-mail but it just sat there and won’t do anything. I really need to figure out a different way to do that. haha but hello everyone. I’m so glad that Halloween was good. I won’t lie we didn’t do a thing different down here. It was just like every other day, but that’s ok. I’m glad everyone had fun there! sounds like Halloween was really cool this year. Well as for the Christmas package I’m going to try to send something. It won’t be big though so I hope that’s ok, but don’t worry in two years I will have plenty of things to bring back home for you guys so just be patient. haha well this week was really good for us. We had 2 baptisms Sunday, one was our guy from last week which was really good because he was a homem and he completed a family for us so that was awesome and the other was a girl we taught over the phone. She is awesome and I baptized them both, so now I have 5. We were pretty happy and right now we are on track for our goal for the month which is 8 baptisms- 2 men and one family, so we are looking good. We have 3 new potential baptisms this week too but one of them is pretty mole so we will see what we can do to help her. But we have a date for one of the others. I have really started to get into the work here I think because the weeks are going by so fast. I am really enjoying it when that happens because before I know it its p day again. but I’m hoping that we have our zone conference soon because I really want those packages and letters. haha but the washer has been awesome. It definitely washes my clothes better than I can. haha but things are going good here. just really hot. I’m going to start carrying a water bottle during the day I think that will help and I will definitely start to try and get more protein. I have been eating eggs and stuff to help but I’ll try more yogurt. and I am trying more milk too even though I need to be careful about the milk down here. haha its kind of iffy someplaces. I weighed myself again this week and I am down to 188. I think it’s good though I was a little overweight and I like being the weight I am now. I feel a lot better. haha but by the end of the mish I might be mini me. well the weather has been hot and humid like usual but that’s just normal here. This is called cidade do sol so it’s supposed to be hot all the time. The work is going good and the language is going good too. I don’t know if I will be completely fluent by Christmas but I will be close I think. I am definitely understanding a lot more and in another 2 months I think I will be doing great. there are some days I just want to speak English just to be able to joke around. The humor is definitely different here I think. It’s hard to joke when I don’t know how. haha but I will get it. Well it will definitely be a different Christmas this year without snow. I am already missing snow. but I think only cuz it’s so hot here. It’s ok though I will get used to it and I’m sure I can deal with the heat. Mom I will definitely find a nativity set for you. I will keep my eye out this Christmas and if not this Christmas next. I will probably not send it home but I’ll come back with it. It’s really expensive here to send things. They don’t have a flat rate box. It’s all weight so that sucks. But I’m trying to think of what else is new... just workin hard. I’m really glad things are going good. So how is the knee bending? I hope your feet are feeling good now after those shots. haha I really want to try and find a pull up bar and a jump rope here but there’s not really a store for those things. but we will see. Well I will tell a couple stories just little ones but you might enjoy. First of all was the baptism this week. Sebastiao is his name and he is like 65 or something. He was so excited for baptism and after I baptized him and he came up out of the water he had the biggest smile and he didn’t say anything but he just smiled really big and patted his belly and his chest a couple times. like ~haha no sin!~or something like that. I don’t know it was just really funny. and then another thing is that we have what’s called the fera. Its where a bunch of fruit and veggie vendors and clothes and tons of stuff. They all get together on Thursday and sell during the day. Well if you go right before they close they always sell for cheap because they are trying to get rid of stuff. I went a couple weeks ago and I bought 50 bananas for 1 real. That’s like 50 cents so I got 1 banana for 1 cent. haha it was awesome. I love the fera. Those are my couple cool stories for now. Dad I’m glad that the mutual went well and it sounds like getting the extension on work will be a little close but I’m sure you guys will work it out. haha thanks for the updates. You should have thought about a career in sports journalism! I decided I am going to try to send a tape and some pictures for Christmas. It’s not much but its light and I think it will mean more than some little trinket that I can give you in two years, so I will try to get that going soon. I just want you all to know that I love you so much and that if it wasn’t for you guys I would probably be lost. Thanks for always guiding me in the right direction. love you all and have an awesome week! If there is any questions I didn’t answer I’m sorry, just chew me out next week and I will definitely remember. haha but lots of love till next week! love ty

October 27, 2008 What Do American's Eat?

hey family! well things are going good here in Natal. I just got back from downtown, I forgot the name but it was really busy and had a bunch of street vendors and stuff. it was pretty cool; I didn’t buy much but maybe next time I’ll find something I want. But things are going good here, I ll take a minute and talk about the area I guess. well we have investigators right now but not a lot. It’s been really hard finding people here, so we make a lot of contacts and ask for references with everyone we meet. So we had 1 baptism this week but it fell because the guy was really sick, we took him to the little doctors office here and then we got some members to drive him to the hospital. It was too bad, he was so ready this week, at the doctor’s office he even pulled his little swimsuit thing out of his pocket to show us. he was excited. It should be this week as long as he is feeling better. We called yesterday and he is a little better so by next week he should be good. We should have another baptism next week too, we just have to finish teaching her over the phone because she works during the week in the interior. haha that will be something new! It’s just inland from us, so that will be cool. But other than that it’s just a lot of potential investigators right now, but things are good here. It is so hot! The only good thing is that we have plenty of wind here. But I definitely liking things right now and the language is making steps. I’m teaching tons better and my comp said that with how I’m speaking right now at 4 months he said I’m way better than the other Americans. I still have a lot of work though. It is definitely a boost though to hear that I’m speaking decent. haha well I’m staying healthy mom, at least I’m trying. I have been having a ton of headaches lately but I think its cuz I don’t eat enough. So I have been trying to eat more. I don’t eat crap either, lots of fruit and juices. The fruit is really cheap here which is so awesome. haha but things are good with my feet and ankles. Nothing but just normal aches and pains from how much we walk. We had our washing machine arrive this week so we are all so excited and happy for that! I’m sure it can wash my clothes better than I can so I’m happy. Dad I’m really sorry about the rough week, I don’t know if I would be able to do that either. It’s hard to do that to someone,but you are always in my prayers and I hope this week will be better. Mom I’m sorry you have had some setbacks with the knee, but I loved your quote and I know you will go forward and make this something that will help you grow. I’m glad you all got my letters too. I will have to write more. It’s tough to find time really. But I can do it. haha but Halloween is this week and I doubt we will be doing anything for it. But they have it here I think, but it’s definitely not the same here, we will have to see. I think we have a conference coming up so maybe I will get letters and a package soon. haha I hope the package is here by the time we have it. If not I will be waiting a lot longer. It’s all good though. Speaking of packages I am starting to get stuff together for a Christmas package. I bought a little something but I don’t know what really to get down here. There isn’t a lot and we don’t have a lot of time, so don’t be expecting too much k, but I will make up for it in 2 years k? haha but it will be good I promise. I just hope it’s not too expensive. But I’m glad the bank is looking out for me. I have tried not to use my card too much. I have only used it 3 times. And I doubt I will use it again for a while. I don’t like to use it, only to get I litte money at a bank when I really want to or need to. I haven’t used a lot either. but I’m really glad Mk won! boo ya. haha I remember when I got the good ol police escort by the freeway! It’s the bomb. way to go pg. haha thanks for the up dates. Sounds like the next time I hear from you the Phillies will be world champs. haha that’s cool. I will have to buy a hat when I get home. I like the Phillies so I’m ok with that. thanks for the updates. so dad you asked me something to tell the boys to help prepare them for missions. I will write a little something and I hope it will help. To help prepare better for a mission is to prepare to give yourself to the Lord. One analogy we use a lot here is getting in the boat. You can’t keep one foot in the dock and one in the boat, you won’t get anywhere. But if you can make the decision now to ´go and do´, when you arrive it will be a lot easier to get into the work. I remember one scripture that helped me a lot. helaman 5:12, I read that and I decided that I was going to build upon that rock, I knew that building the foundation of my life was the first step, and through a mission we can have one of the strongest foundations we can ask for. So decide now, and prepare NOW. Because preparation precedes power. So I don’t know if that will help or not but those were just some thoughts that I had and I hope that scripture is right, but maybe that will help. I love you all and I hope that all will go well this week. I always look forward to hearing from you all and I pray for you everyday. Oh yeah I forgot a few answers for mom. We use the internet in a thing called a lan house, just a place with computers that you can use. haha we pay like 1 real for an hour which is like 50 cents. It’s pretty cheap so no worries. I will keep an eye out for a guy that does those drawings and if I find him I’ll definitely grab one, but it’s not here sorry. Well it’s going good here and the week went really fast this last week so I’ll work hard so I can talk to you again soon. haha I love you all so much and if I forgot anything I’m sorry. Have an awesome week. love ty
Well I have a litte time left so I’m just trying to write a little somethingto answer unanswered questions. The reason I was transferred here is cuz there was an elder here with health problems in his chest. So they moved him to where I was really close to sister and pres. and the office. So I got moved to his spot here. It’s all good though I really like it here. oh and last night we had noite familiar which is to help any recent converts get integrated with the members and stuff. Well we were playing like hot potatoe and if you had it last you had to do something. Well I had to dig through a bowl of flower and find a plastic chip thing with my mouth, haha so everyone got a good laugh, but it was funny. What else, I’m learning how to make juices and mousse and stuff. Haha just easy stuff here that people make everyday, so that’s good. Oh and we figured out how to make peanut butter, it’s not like the good stuff and texture but it has the taste so we’re happy. haha we don’t have a lot though cuz peanuts are still tough to find. One thing that people don’t know is what Americans eat? What are our staples? Here they have rice and beans and spaghetti. But I don’t know what we have. They all think all we eat is fast food which is kind of true but not at the same time. Help me out with this question. Oh and how many people are in Pleasant Grove? haha everyone asks that. Just random stuff like that. haha it seems like everyone has someone they know in the states here, a lot in Utah too. I’m already missing the cold like crazy too. haha I just want a really cold breeze haha but all I get is hot.oh well I can deal with it. I’m starting to get used to it. Well my time is up and I gotta jet. I love you all so much. Any questions let me know. haha love ty

October 20, 2008- Heat, Sand and a Fridge!

hello hello family. Well I’m here in Natal and my first week is officially over. It has seemed like one of the longest weeks of the mission. Not the longest but it was long. But things are good here. I’ll try to describe this area. It’s definitely different. So there is a lot of sand, like everywhere. haha and the city is pretty big but during the day and stuff it just seems deserted. It’s funny the shops open in the morning. close in the afternoon, re open for the evening and then close at night. probably cuz it’s so hot here. but I think I am really close to sand dunes because the roads are mostly just sand and stuff. This area is about middle class I thin, there are some people that don’t have a lot and some that have nice things too. I think my first area had more money though. The people here are nice and I can tell that I am definitely understanding the language a lot better. I’m helping teach more and I’m talking more too. I’m so grateful that the language is starting to come around. I still have a lot of work to do though, but it’s all good. Elder Vieira is good, I definitely get along a lot better with him. He has his weird tendencies but I’m sure I do too. He reminds me of a vulture kind of, he is about my height but probably weighs 120, 60 kilos however much that is. I don’t know. haha I remember from chem. the equation but I don’t want to do it right now. but anyway he is cool and we live with two other elders, Elder Lohman from Tennessee and Elder Salines from São Paulo. They are both studs and Lohman has 6 months and Salines has 8, he is our district leader. Vieira has 1 year and a couple months so I’m still the novinho but it’s all good. Our house is tons nicer and a lot bigger! I love it, fridge and stove.,no washing machine or iron or microwave but we get by. haha but the area is good, it is huge so we do a ton of walking, like a lot. haha but the ward here we work with is very small, so I will probably be helping more here but it should be fine. I’m getting to know the members and our bishop is great to work with. It makes me appreciate all you do dad, you bishops are busy guys! I always keep you in my prayers. Well that’s the update on the area. haha any questions? let me know. Well I’m excited for the Rays and the Phillies. I like both of them and it will be good to have a new champ. Thanks for the update. I’m pretty bummed for byu though. I hate that one loss like that drops them so far. What about usc? They have 1 too. ,the bcs is gay, but Texas better not lose too. haha elder Lohman is a Tennessee vols fan bigtime, but they are really struggling this year. so anyway thanks for the sports updates. I always look forward to hearing what’s new. Go PG! haha I’m sorry about MKs loss again, but maybe a year of losses will make them hungry for next season- a season of wins right? Save the wins for senior year. That’s when they count. haha Well I’m going to try to send some photos next week, I’ll try to take some pics of my area too. But I need to find another way to attach them through like paint or something because right now they are too big and take too long. I will figure it out I promise. I got two mission ties last week at our interviews with president. I will only get letters here like at interviews and zone conferences, so maybe like 3 times a transfer which sucks. In my other zone it was once a week, but so ya know I will only get them here every few weeks. sorry. I can still send them. By the way did you guys get those letters I sent? I hope so. I thought dad said something about getting it, so that’s good. I will try to send more and I think I sent another one last week. I will do another mission ties this week, write some more about what’s going on here. It’s amazing that when you can stay busy how much faster things go here. I like when it stays busy. It’s easier to lose track of time. haha this area should baptize more than my last area. I hope. haha but the work is good. I need to try and find some things to send home but this area doesn’t have a lot. I will find some things though. haha ill keep my eyes open. for Christmas I could use a cd player. haha I can’t find one here. and some cds like the rm and best 2 years maybe. I don’t know. haha and there is a connection for the cd to my speakers that I forgot. mk knows what it is. So if you could include that. As for other stuff I don’t know. My clothes are still all good and I have plenty of everyday stuff. Maybe like phase ten? haha we have uno but that would be sweet. I like surprises too! Whatever you guys send will be good. I always love photos too. Maybe some old one like me and my friends. I don’t have any of the boys, like football ones. I think there are a couple in the drawer of my desk that I want. So that would be awesome if you could do that for me. Mom I wish I could try some of your bread haha but I’m sure it will be perfect when I get home. So I’m really excited for that. and I’m glad your knee is getting the bend back. I know that physical therapy hurts like crazy but be brave and know that the pain you deal with now will mean less pain later. but I’m glad you’re making steps. Sounds like the fall is going great. I love the fall. haha I love your grandma and grandpa stories. I bet it’s so fun having Mya running the show now. haha I bet she will have an attitude when I get back. haha we will be friends. I am doing well now and working hard. I miss you all a lot but I know that this work is the work of the lord. I know that this is where I need to be. I love hearing that all is well but if there is ever anything you need to vent to me or just talk about I’m still here. I love being the listener. haha and you’re always in my prayers, each one of you individually. I love you all and hope that this week will be great. I’m trying to have fun everyday, but you guys need to too k? haha I love ya. talk to you soon. love ty

Thanks T.K.!

Yesterday was Tyson's P-day and he sent me a quick e-mail despite the lack of one on my end. Well, that fabulous missionary is sure in tune with the spirit. I have been kind of stressed out the past few days with work and the babe and just everyday life. Well my sweet brother, all the way down in Brazil, knew exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks bud, I love ya!

Hey aub. How are things back at work? I hope your finding a groove with things there and at home with mya now. I know it's probably really hard, and I can't even begin to imagine what its like being a mom but I know that if anyone can do it its you. And like you told me. When things get hard you can go to Heavenly Father and tell him anything. Always pray to Him about Mya. About things you can help her and teach her. I know you do already. You are a wonderful mom, and your an awesome sister too. You always know just what I need to hear. Just remember keep your head up even when things get hard because something good is just around the corner and if you got your head in your hands you wont be able to see it. haha I love you Aub. You're the best. If you ever need anything just let me know and I'm there. haha love you aub. Give Mya a big kiss for me. Have an awesome week love ya. love Ty

October 13, 2008 Moving to Natal!

Oct. 13, 2008
Hey everybody. Well it has been another good week here in the mission field. This week I had what was called a division and for like half a day I went with another missionary. So our district leader works in the mission office, so for the division he came to our area to get to know it better. So he worked with elder joabson and I went to the office with elder Gardner. He is from Washington dc. so I got there at like 4, its only like 10 minutes from our area and that night I worked with him, he works from like 6 to 9 only because he works in the office all day. So I stayed the night in the office with him and the AP´s. elder Santos, and elder draudt, he is from Orem and went to timp. He played baseball so I have played against him a few times. So it was cool to talk to him and get to know him better and we actually know a few of the same people and stuff. He is a really cool kid. So I spent the night and the next morning helped with some things in the office. Just putting in information and stuff and then around 12 I went back to my area. It was cool I guess. haha it was kind of nice to work with another missionary and see how they do it too. But the rest of the week has been good and we had a baptism this Sunday. His name is Vandberg and he is 16. it was cool and I got to baptism him. So that was awesome. but our group of investigators is kind of small so this week we are going to make a bunch o.... stop I’m so sorry but I just got a phone call and I’m being transferred. so I will e-mail later. I have to go now! haha sorry I love you all so much and can’t wait till I can explain. Love ya ty
Later That Day…
ok I’m back, it’s around 2:30 and I’m at the bus stop waiting to get on a bus to natal, its north of where I’m at and my new companion will be elder viera. Elder draudt called me this morning and was like hey your being transferred right now. So go home and pack really fast and get on a bus. So I did just that. haha I had to stop everything we went home, I packed really fast, and I’m actually really surprised how fast I did. And now I’m here just kind of waiting for a bit. I will arrive in natal at 6 30 and I leave at 330. it’s kind of crazy and I almost don’t want to leave because I like this area but at the same time I’m really excited. I’m nervous at the same time but it should be good. haha the mission is just crazy. It would have been nice to just be transferred on a normal transfer day but it’s all good. I just hope I don’t turn into the guy that president sends all over the place for emergency transfers. haha but maybe that’s who I’m supposed to be. I’ll go where he wants me to go. Well ill pick up on my other thoughts right now. So I miss snow like crazy and mom I’m sure you would love the warm weather but it’s so hot here. haha like all the time. I miss having a clear breathe and dry skin. It’s always sticky. Even after you get out of the shower. but I guess it’s not shivering. haha so how is the knee? how much bend you got now? yeah mk sent me an e-mail but he only thinks it was big cuz he sent it on his touch. Tell him to use a normal comp and he will see they aren’t that big. haha it’s all good though I’m just happy to get them. Well sounds like myas blessing was great and that everything went well. I’m happy for that and jealous that I couldn’t be there for it. Dad you can share what I said. It was something like that. haha I really liked being with kyli but when I was just hanging with everyone and had lots of friends it was so fun. and now I’m out here I wish I would have dated alot of different people. and taken a whole lot more pictures. and for the priests preparing I will give a little bit next week. I want to write a little longer and I don’t have a ton of time to say alot. But I’m stoked for Texas right now! haha number one and for byu. it’s too bad that this awesome year of football just happens to be when I’m out here. I actually knew this was going to happen. Oh well. I’m so excited for the package that will come. I will keep the snowboarding pictures off the wall. I hope you sent some others too. I love pictures. I haven’t seen any new ones of you guys since I have left. But thank you all so much for everything you do. You’re all the best. But the language is coming along and things are going good. I’m getting into the work and the time is passing quicker each day. I’m excited for the band of brothers newsletters too. Oh if you could tell all the moms next time to take me off their forward lists it would be great. I can’t receive it so it might get me in trouble. But if you hear anything cool maybe just attach it to one of yours. But I know this new area will be an adventure and that I will grow even more. I love you all so much. I sent a letter for each one of you individually a couple weeks ago? Did you ever get it? I hope so. haha well I better go. I will let you know how things go. Love you all. love ty

Excerpts from a letter to Aubry & Cody

There were a couple of funny things that Tyson wrote to us the other day. I thought I would share with ya'll. Enjoy!

...Well Cody I know hunting season is coming up soon, I hope you go kill something big. People here in Brazil can't believe that we go and kill things. They are like shocked by it. It's really funny. They don't like the idea of hunting very much I don't think. Kinda weird.

**He also says that he had to catch a lizard that was by their house because his (native) companion was afraid of it. Something about that seems a bit weird to me.

October 6,2008- First Transfer

-This pic may have been taken on a rough day.-

So hello! haha this week has been good. well transfers were yesterday and nothing happened for me. haha I’m still here in my area with elder joabson. so it should be another good 6 weeks but I hope we can baptize more this time. it should be good though and things are getting better for me and elder joabson. I’m trying to just accept him and not be bugged by the little things he does. the language is taking big steps right now and there are times when I can understand everything that everyone is saying and actually talk to the people. it’s pretty cool. I’m far from fluent but I’m doing well. so conference was really good this weekend. I watched one session Saturday and the two Sunday. but I missed priesthood and one Saturday. but it was all in Portuguese. I understood quite a bit but it would be really sweet if you could send me the ensign when it comes out next month. I would love it. I’m really excited for my package! thank you so much. I’m glad you got my mission ties and I’ll try to write some more soon. I mailed a letter a while back so I’m hoping you should get that soon. I mailed it a week before I mailed the mission ties so mission ties is definitely a lot faster. I’m trying to find some things to mail in a package to you guys with the tape. I’m not sure what to send but I’ll find something. haha it is probably a crappy tape too. I don’t really remember what I said and I only did one side. I am going to try and do the other side while I’m finding things to mail. I’m sure you guys would like that a lot more. that’s so sweet about cadens call. if you see him or anything or get an address for me that would be awesome. or tell him good luck and congrats for me. and seans address would be awesome too; I want to mail him a letter. sounds like conference weekend was a good one, I was a little homesick cuz I love conference weekend but it was good here. definitely different cuz of the time difference. that’s too bad about mks game. sounds like they need just some more experience. but thanks for the sports updates. sounds like baseball will be better next round with some closer series. mom I’m so glad that your knee is on the mend and that you got to drive again. watch out world! haha ok so that’s nuts about Emily hall! that was really fast too. haha but that’s good for her and I hope the best for her. I think it’s so weird though to get news like that. oh well I better get used to it. well the work is good and we have a couple new investigators but no one really solid. it’s hard here because no one is giving us references and everyone just wants to go to the beach instead of church. but I’m hoping we will be able to baptize this one kid next week. we will see. things are going good here and I’m hoping this transfer will be really good and I will learn a lot. just think I have this transfer, and then next transfer I get to talk to you guys. haha I hope you’re excited. but anyway I love you all so much and I love hearing how all of you are doing. I’m glad I have such an amazing family. hope all goes well this week and that you all are having fun too. you’re in my prayers. I love you so much. if I need to write anything or you have questions I haven’t answered just ask. haha talk to you soon. love you. Ty

Sept. 29, 2008 A Baptism!

hello hello, well im hanging in there, haha this week was pretty good and we had another baptism this week that was good. his name was Alef do Santos and he is 14. i baptized him Thursday and then he received the holy ghost Sunday and is going to get the aaronic priesthood soon too so he was definitely prepared. it has been really good here but my area is not a big baptising area. other people from my district have like 7 already but its ok its not about numbers. im glad i have even had 2 already. so we have another kid named vandberg andhe is ready but his mom doesnt want him to be baptised. so that really sucks but we might have one this week if everything works out. I’m praying for it. Ha-ha but we have transfers this next week, like the 5th so we will have to see where I end up and with whom. I am pretty sure that elder joabson will be transferred. At least that’s what he says so the camera was a good idea but I don’t know if it will get here in time. Besides he has one it’s just one that uses film. So it’s ok. But things are ok with me and him I’m very patient and we work well together it’s just a lot of little things that he does at home that I don’t like. but it’s ok. It’s all part of the mission. Mom it was probably good I didn’t get your email last week because it was just what I needed this week. It was perfect. Thank you so much! I’m glad the knee is getting better and thanks for my pin and all the other info I needed. Don’t be scared for physical therapy it will be ok. It will help so much too. I’m so glad that everything went well too that you won’t need more surgeries. That’s awesome. So I’m really excited for the package and the only thing else I would say is maybe some pictures. New and old that I can show people. they love pictures here. they always have some to show. so I don’t have a ton of time this week sorry. But thank you for the sports update dad. I love hearing about it. I guess I’m in on the blog scene now whether I like it or not. ha-ha but really that’s pretty cool that you guys did that. I would like to see it but ya know it’s a rule I can’t. In a couple years maybe. I sent some mission ties today so it was good to know we still have that. I like it and it’s a lot cheaper for me. Oh if you happen to know anything about Sean McLean let me know. I don’t have an address or anything so if you could get me some way to get hold of him. or something. Ha ha and maybe Zach and mitches addresses too. thanks. Well it is a crazy week this week and it’s definitely going to go fast. so that’s going to be awesome. I’m a little worried about conference though because it’s all in Portuguese. I wonder how much ill understand. Ha-ha well I love you all so much and I can definitely feel your prayers. Thank you all and I’ll try to write more next week. I tried sending pictures but it didn’t work and ate up all my time. I’ll try again next time. Love you all. love ty

Sept. 22, 2008

Hello family! Well this week went good, I was a little worried for a minute because dads e-mail was all screwed up and weird but I reopened it and it was fine after so I could read it. Haha, but anyway, things are going good here. I just got done with week 4 here and this Thursday will be 3 months away from home. It’s so weird to think I have been away for that long and that short at the same time. It seems like I have been away for so so much longer but at the same time it has gone fast at times. I’m sure I will feel the same way at 6 months and then a year, but our investigators are doing good. we have a baptism this Wednesday. His name is Alef and he is 14. He is a pretty solid kid and I’m excited for that. We have some other investigators that are close to baptism but we just can’t right now. Whether its parents saying no or other things, but we are doing good and working hard. I’m trying hard to be better with my companion and look for positive things always. Yesterday we got to give two blessings to some of our investigators. one to Aldemir who is a father of a family and he decided to quit smoking and drinking and asked for a blessing. We are working with his family cuz he has already been baptized. The other was to a child of one of our investigators for health. The baby had been sick and not sleeping so we gave it a blessing- the whole time it was crying but right when we finished it stopped and went right to sleep. It was really cool. Well I am getting better with the language but I still have to think about things first and then try to say them but it’s definitely coming along. I’m getting better. I’m understanding more and more every day. It will just take time though because there are a lot of times that i still feel lost when people start talking about things and words I don’t recognize come up, but it’s getting better. Well I was going to send some photos this morning but Elder Joabson was playing with my camera like usual and drained my battery so I’ll have to next week. I don’t have any great ones right now but I figured something is better than nothing. Well I’m kind of mad at myself because I forgot grandmas e-mail address this morning so if you could just tell them I’m sorry but I got her letter and thank her so much for me. I can e-mail all my relatives so I’m going to next week. But tell grandma and grandpa that I love them and I’m thinking about them. Well we still have to clap our hands real loud at the door but sometimes they have little doorbell or buzzer things, most the time it’s clapping though- kind of different. And another thing that’s different is they always have a really big lunch with dessert always but then they hardly ever eat dinner. Maybe a little snack but nothing else. I’m having to try to get used to it because I usually eat a small lunch and a big dinner, but I don’t mind it’s just different. Well I am in Joao Pessoa, but not at the same time. It’s like a suburb, haha Tambau is the area and it contains Tambau and Manaira. It’s just like a smaller part of the big city. joao pessoa is pretty big so we just have a little area. It sounds like the new schedule is going alright. I never really liked the 1 o’clock schedule, it just seems longer, especially since I’m up every day at 6:30. I’m sorry McKay about the tough loss. I really hate when that happens. It’s really hard, but try to bounce back with a lot of energy because teams can become really dangerous after a tough loss. Make sure the guys on your team aren’t getting down, make sure they are getting hungry for a win. Thanks for the updates this week. Mom I forgot the rest of your questions again this week but I’m trying to include a lot of what’s going on here. I haven’t eaten anything really weird yet, just a lot of lasagna and pasta and rice and beans- haha and açai. But we eat good here so Im pretty happy. The people here are really friendly and take care of us. We do a lot of finding on our own but the members help us find people too which is nice. We find a few good references from the members every once in a while. The members are really friendly with the people we get to church too so that is nice since they will befriend the new converts. I’m trying really hard to just keep my head up even though some days it’s hard. The days just keep rolling by and soon enough I might have a new area which is kind of weird but exciting. Who knows if I’ll get transferred or stay? I kind of just want to stay here but I’m not sure yet. I’m getting excited for when I will just be able to talk and stuff because it will make it so much better but I’m just hanging in there right now. So mom what’s the update on the knee? Hope its feeling good right now. I have been so terrible with writing but I’ll be better I promise. I’m trying really hard, but I love you guys so much and I don’t think there is anything I forgot this week but if there is let me know. Oh I thought of something that would be awesome in my next package-peanut butter. I never thought I would want it so bad but I really do. But anyway I love you all so much and I’m so happy I have a family like you that looks out for me. I can feel all your prayers and love for me. You guys are all the best and if you have any questions or want me to write about something just let me know. Have an awesome week I love you all. love ty

Sept. 15, 2008

Hello, hello everyone. Well things here just keep moving along and I'm sure it will get even faster soon. I'm still struggling with the language, but it's ok it will come eventually. Well I forgot mom's letter with her questions at home but I'll try to answer them all. First of all my companion is ok. He is kind of a punk, but it's ok 'cuz he has to be a missionary first. I don't know if I would like him outside of this, but it's ok. He is patient with me and helps me with the language. He loves looking at himself and taking pictures of himself with my camera. He loves using my stuff too which drives me crazy but what can you do huh? Well he is good and it will get better. The house is small and we don't have alot of things other missionaries have but it could be worse. Like we don't have a fridge or a washing machine. Just a sink. It's like 4 rooms. A small bathroom, the kitchen slash laundry room, the bedroom and the study room. All which is about the size of my room and the playroom back home. I can't complain though it could be alot worse. Sister and President Fernandes are good. They are really strict but it's ok. They are very nice. I don't get to talk with them ever but it's ok. Only at interviews and I got to hear them both speak at our stake conference on sunday which was good. From what I could understand. The ties and the other two packages were awesome mom thanks. I dont want ugly ties anyway. I like the good looking ones. I have plenty for now though. I bought a couple at the CTM. So for the new package I would just say some pictures, maybe that tape if you're done and more candy. haha! American candy is always good. I loved the runts. But I don't know what else for now. We eat at members houses most days for lunch and it's been really good so far. This area has quite a bit of money so we eat good. This past week most of our lunch appointments forgot us though so they just give us money and we eat at a restaraunt. It's all good. We never cook. The only other meal we have is breakfast and we just buy some rolls and like bologna or some kind of meat and have that. So it's all good. I answered some sorry if I forgot some. I'll read it again and answer the rest and more next week. I am sending a letter this week cuz I tried on thursday but they wouldn't take it so I'm trying again today or tomorrow. Sorry about that. I hope it won't take too long to get there. Sounds like PG and BYU are both doing awesome right now. That's exciting and I'm glad MK's ankle isn't bothering him too much. Mom I'm glad you are getting around a little more. It's good to try and move around. I love when I get to sit still for a minute now days. haha We move alot. Today has been a good P-day, we spent the morning watching the Joseph Smith movie, eating açai and we were with Elder Santos and Howard our zone leaders. Elder Howard is a cool guy and an awesome missionary. So now the big news. I had my first baptism. The one thursday fell through but I had one sunday and it was a man which is really good because we want to baptise men out here. The goal is 27 percent men or something like that. So it was really cool and I loved being able to baptise him. It was awesome. So I don't know what else to tell you right now but things are going good. I'm getting better and a little less homesick. I have been struggling a little but it's ok. I'm learning really fast. I'm hoping by the end of this transfer in 3 more weeks I'll be speaking better and hopefully understand most of what people are saying. But I'm just trying to stay positive you know. haha I love hearing from you guys and getting all the updates. I love the football updates too. So what is BYU ranked right now? Sorry random quesiton. But I'm doing good and things are getting better out here. There are days I think about two years and it seems so long. So I'm trying to just think about monday to monday. I figure I get to talk to you a little through the internet and I should be so grateful for that. I finished the tape and I will send it soon. I just need to figure out what else to send home with it. Any suggestions? What do you guys want from Brazil? haha Well, I love you guys so much and I hope you have another awesome week. It's too bad mission ties is wierd now but it's ok real mail will work too. Well, I love you all and I can't wait to hear from you again next week. Lots of love, Tyson

Sept. 8, 2008

hi everyone! how is it going? well im doing just fine here in good ol brazil and things are moving along a little quicker now. im sorry my email last week probably didnt have alot of details or anything. i will try and be better starting today. so this week went alot quicker and alot better than last week. although i still dont understand the language which is the hardest part. but this week i got to help teach again. i actually get to teach quite a bit. when we teach the first lesson i talk about families and prophets and the book of mormon. its pretty tough but i get through and it helps me. we got to teach 2 new people yesterday so that was fun. we have at least one baptism set up for this week. maybe 2? we will have to see but our baptism is a boy named anderson and he is a good kid. he took the lessons, read and decided to be baptised so i think that is going to be thursday. im really excited for the first one. we have another family we are teaching the mom and the dad and daughter have been baptised already. im hoping she will commit but the two need to be married first so it may be a little bit. we walk alot during the day and our area has both the poor and the rich areas so its kind of cool. i get the best of both worlds. but its still really tough right now because of the whole language barrier thing. i can only say so much which is really tough. and i dont understand alot when it comes to everyday conversation. i can usually understand plenty during lessons and in church but just everyday stuff is so hard. but im learning and getting better im just trying to have patience. i havent eaten anything crazy yet which is too bad but we will see maybe this week. just lots of lasagna and rice and beans and mashed potatoes. its good. haha i will make sure to keep you all updated on families and people working toward baptism but right now im even having a hard time understanding names and whats going on. haha but its going really good and im starting to do alot better with helping and getting into the groove of things. my companion is ok. he is good most days but some days i have a hard time with him. he is pretty annoying but im having patience and things will be ok. i know if i can just learn the language it will be easier and he helps me with that most the time. we get along really well its just some things i have to deal with and i will have it with every companion. so anyway thats the update here. mom how is the knee doing? i heard your moving it a little bit! haha hang in there the time will pass and you will be back on your feet in no time. i hope little mya comes to visit you all the time. your the best ever mom and thanks for all you do for me. you really take care of me. i love ya! dad thanks for the updates. i love hearing the scores and the updates and all the little details of mks and pgs games. it makes me feel like im not missing it. haha but im trying to hang in there right now the language is tough. but thanks for your example. its too bad about mks ankle. make sure he takes care of it because it sucks if it gets worse. trust me. haha well this week was fast and hopefully this next one will be fast too. if you guys could do one thing for me though. i dont remember my pin number for my credit card or the balance. haha i havent used it for so long. but that would be great to know just in case. im good now and i havent needed it but just in case ya know? that would be awesome. but thank you so much for all you do and all your support. it really helps. but i need to go for now but im sending a letter this week i promise. im sorry i have been terrible at that. but im writing it today when i get home. i love you all so much. really i wish you knew how much i mean it! haha but have an awesome week and i love you all. love ty

Sept. 1, 2008

well hello hello family! yes its actually me and im alive! it has been a long two weeks since we talked last and alot has happened. but im here in joão pessoa. i guess i will start from the beginning haha. the last week in the mtc was good. we studied hard and said our goodbyes. took alot of pictures and then the morning came for us to leave. i was over a little but on my luggage but it was no problem. but we went throught the airport and stuff all on our own. no directions at all. haha and we were on a normal sized plane. not as big as some we have been on but normal sized. we flew for a few hours and had our connecting flight from recife. sorry dad i didnt see rio. that would have been awesome though. well i got to joão pessoa and president fernandes was there to greet us. we went to the mission home and had lunch and then training and interviews until dinner time. then we got to go to president fernandes house and eat dinner there with him. it was all good and then that night we slept at some apartments across the street. i saw billy hiatt there. he is from pg too so it was really nice to see someone i knew. the next day we went to our area and met our companions. my companion is elder joabson. he is from são paulo and doesnt speak any english. he is a really cool guy though. so then we got to work. haha it has been a very tough week. i dont understand anything anyone says but its all good. im coming along and understanding more everyday. the area is really nice. it has its rich parts and its poor parts also. its really hot and humid here and i sweat 24-7. this first week has really been a hard one for me but i have worked through it and i think things will go up. the hardest part is not having anyone to talk to. i will probably get to see some of the other guys from my district tomorrow for our district meeting. that will be nice to see them and see how they are doing. well thats about it. for now. haha it has been crazy and the time goes fast at some points and slow at others. i will try to send some pictures with the e-mail next week. that will be sweet. im glad cam and tys farewells went well. they will both be such studs. mom how is the knee doing? im sorry you have to have so much down time with it right now. it really sucks. i had only a small part of the downtime you have with my ankle and i know its so hard. but know im always thinkin about ya. i got both the packages you sent and they helped so much especially this first week! it has been so nice to know that you guys are thinking about me! there are times when i sit and wonder if i can actually do this. but i know you love me and are praying for me and i just keep working. i love you. it sounds like pg is going to have another good season this year. too bad they couldnt grab the one against timpview. its ok though. you will have to let me know how mk did this week. i am so excited for you buddy. your going to do awesome. it will be great. im trying to catch up on all the stories but it sounds like it has been a good couple weeks. dad i love the sports updates. they dont talk about much down here besides soccer. keep me updated on byu texas and just the top interesting teams and stories. you dont need to write too much. i hope everything is going good. i am working really hard on that tape and so that will be awesome. sounds like aub had an awesome week too. sounds like everything has been really fun. im not sure how mail is going to work down here yet but i should find out today. ill do some mission ties and other letters too. it should be good. ill see what i can do. well i cant e-mail anyone but family so if you can just tell everyone to write instead of e-mail. i dont want to lose my e-mailing privelages. sorry to everyone else. but things are going good and im trying to be happy. i love you all. have an amazing week and ill try to tell you more next week! lots of love and hugs. ty

August 20, 2008

hello hello, well this is my last p day out in the field and its been good so far! i loved the pictures you guys sent they were awesome. i always love seeing some pictures from home of everyone. well a week from today i will be on a plane to joão pessoa. should be awesome. im so excited. i promise i will wear sunblock mom, im kinda nervous cuz i have been inside so long that i dont have a tan at all and now when i go there its going to fry me right away. it will be nice when my skin is used to it. but im so excited to just get out there and get lost in everything. i think i will like it alot more than são paulo, its so big here and so dirty. JP is supposed to be alot more spread out and its like the 2nd greenest city in the world or something like that. i dont really know. well this week has been a good one. i weighed myself the other day and i have lost 5 or 6 pounds here in the mtc so i was pretty happy about that. i thought i would end up like elder orme and gain 16 pounds. haha that would suck. you asked if i knew an elder hurst and yeah i do he is in the other district my age. he is a really cool kid. so thats kinda funny that you asked about him. well the 50 dollars is like 75 reais down here so i am going to buy alot of cookies and drinks and stuff for this week. im so stoked. i bought me and elder charlesworth a cookie shake just a minute ago so that was really good. thanks so much for that! its kinda sad i went to the temple today for the last time for like 2 years. it was good though. we need to go when i get back home. haha well things here are going good. i think winter is wearing off a little because i have been sweating alot more lately. i better just get used to it though right. well i was thinking about how to do pictures and i will just have to wait till i get out into the field. i was thinking i would back them all up on my hard drive and then send home the first card so you could have them all too. let me know what you think about that. we will see what we want to do. im not sure yet. well there is 4 pg kids right now in the mtc so its pretty sweet. we are representing good. and david pierce is on his way here in like october. tell t web and cam both good luck for me. they are both such studs and are going to be awesome missionaries. well i love you all so much and this next week is going to be crazy but i know that the lord goes before me and is bearing me up. i love you all so much and im excited to share all my fun stories ill have next week! it should be great. the work is really starting now. have an amazing week and youll be in my prayers. love you all so much. love ty

Letter - Aug. 14, 2008

hey everyone! well it sounds like a really busy week! a really crazy week! first of all happy birthday dad! im sorry you didnt get a package in the mail but i just dont have any money right now cuz we cant use our cards or cash or anything. but you can expect one soon! haha since i only have a week or two left. im very sorry about grandma rena. its sad but it makes me so happy that we have the plan of happiness and that we can see her again. it brings alot of peace to these kind of situations. and now mom! dad had a little fun and gave me a nice scare for a minute in the letter this week saying you had just gotten out of surgery. but im glad everything is going ok now! im so so sorry that happened. i feel so bad. but i have been praying for you alot and i know that everything is going to be fine. the next 6 weeks arent going to be fun though. but im really glad dad was there and that they could have gotten help to you quick. your in my prayers always and everything will be ok. well mk starts pad this week. good luck buddy. your gonna do awesome. just work hard and have as much fun as you can because it all ends way to quick. it sounds like things are pretty busy at home and i know it gets like that sometimes. in about 2 weeks things are going to get crazy for me again since i dont know portuguese! haha im trying but im still lost most days. but it should be ok, it will be an adventure. not alot has been going on here this week. we have just been studying so much trying to get ready. but i just want you all to know that i know this work is true. and that its been so awesome to find peace and happiness when i just serve and work hard. i know the lord protects you as he does me. i love you guys so much. your support of my decision means so much to me. i hope the pictures brighten the week a little. sorry its been so long since the last ones. but i love you all so much. have an awesome week. and hang in there. your all in my prayers. i love you love ty

Letter July 13, 2008

hey family!! i love you guys. thanks so much for the e-mails and stuff. i love hearing from you guys. first of all the mission ties has been such a blessing. there is a mail strike here so its pretty much stopped but i still get mission ties so im so happy. but its should be starting back up soon so dont be afraid to send letters. but it your going to do pictures do them through mail no e-mail. that way i can have them. it costs alot to print down here. but i love your hadley stories. she is such a character, when i get home she will have some sass i can tell already. she is so funny. i cant wait to hear some mya stories when she gets like that. haha im so excited for the pictures. sounds like they all turned out really good. sounds like your still getting some jobs done around the house without me there too. im glad i was a little worried it would go to shambles without your little worker bee. haha just playin it will look awesome when i get back im sure. well the weather here is good. we love the sunny days cuz it warms up a little. sometimes its a little chilly in the mornings. haha campinas temple was awesome this morning. i havent gone to sao paulo yet but maybe next week. i have heard the inside is beautiful. so it should be awesome. i love the temples and the chance i get to go to them every week. but i wish i had more time to e-mail our p days are full schedule and it seems like not alot of time to e-mail but you should get a good letter too. but everything here is good the work is keeping me so busy and im learning so much. we are starting lesson one in portuguese. it goes fast but slow at the same time. im hoping by month 4 i will be able to talk normal. the drivers are crazy here. they say like 16 motorcyclers die a day in sao paulo. but the schedule is class in morning after breakfast. which is a ham and cheese sandwich for me with juice and a banana. every morning. haha then lunch at 12:30 then gym monday wed fri. and missionary directed study time after. or just mdst on other days. then dinner at 5 and class till 9:15. in bed by ten thirty after planning and prep for bed. they are long days but most of the time go really fast. we play basketball for pe all the time. they have weights for like little kids haha they are light so its not worth lifting so i just play basketball. its fun. we have a pretty athletic district so i am really happy about that. but things are really going good. i cant wait till i can start tracting and talking and stuff. it will be so awesome. i love you guys so much and i cant talk much longer. ill make sure to get you guys a big long letter next week too to answer more questions. do they need to be longer? do you need more details? haha what do i need to do for ya. you guys do so much for me so im completely content. but i love you guys so so so much. your the best family ever. i love hearing from you and ill talk to you all soon. your in my prayers always. love love love. big hug from me and a kiss. haha love ty

Letter July 2nd, 2008

Hi family I'm here in Brazil across the street at Mr. Cheneys cookies. I love the missionties site! It makes it so much faster to get letters and it makes it really easy for me. So I think that will work out alright. I sent one today so you will have to let me know if it got there or not. But I will start out by saying I love you guys so much! You're the best family in the world. Well today is my first real P day and I'm trying to figure out how it's working out. We had a really good morning because we got to go to the Campinas temple. It was so beautiful and everything was so great! While I was in the celestial room I was praying so hard for Heavenly Father to help me and to help you guys. It was really cool. So it has been a good day so far. I think we will end up going to the Sao Paulo temple most the time. Well I'm alive. haha It has been such a crazy week and it seems like I have been here forever already but the week has actually gone by fairly fast. I think it will only speed up from here. A really cool thing happened the other night. It was tuesday at our tuesday night devotional. We had an area authority come and speak to us. So I bet you can guess who it was...yeah it was President Suarez. Dad's old mission companion. He gave an awesome talk on focus which is exactly what my district meeting was going to be about so it was perfect. Then after he gave his talk I made sure I went up and talked to him. It was funny because I was last in line but when I got up there he looked at my name tag and asked if one of my relatives served in Rio. I told him Brent Keetch was my dad and he got the biggest smile I had seen from him all night and he grabbed me and gave me a big hug. He started asking all these questions about dad and told me he was sad that whenever he was in Salt Lake he wanted to find you but never knew where or had time. He was very happy to see me and told me to send his love to you and hopefully he will see you in the future. So that was a really cool experience. I think I needed that hug too! haha Well it has been pretty tough so far but I think things are going to get better. My comp is Elder Charlesworth as you know. I think there should be some pics attached and he is in one of them. Sorry not alot of pictures for the next two months they are really strict about cameras in the ctm. Only pics on p day. Not past 6 and not outside the ctm. So pretty much you will just see some pics of me and the ctm. I was sad I couldn't even take it to the temple this morning. It would have been awesome. But I will try my best to make some of them interesting. The view from my window is really cool. Hopefully I can get a nice sunset pic one night. There are a lot of rules but they are good for us so it's good to obey them all. Well family I love you all so much and I'm sorry that I don't have a ton to say. I'm settled in now and there will be more letters and e-mails on the way soon. Starting to work on that tape too so Il'l try really hard to fill one up for ya! The food here is good but I think eating it every single day is going to drive me crazy about a month and a half in. It's about the same everyday. Not just the rice and beans either. But it at least tastes good to me. But I love you guys so so so so so much! and please keep usin' that mission ties because it gets here faster and I love getting letters. haha It makes my whole day. Sorry about typos and stuff. The keyboard is a little wierd. But you are all the best and you are always in my prayers. I love you all so much. Talk to you soon. Love Ty