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